Hakuo transfer student: Io
by Shardwing52
Summary: Due to a prank Mayoi pulled, Io finds himself transferred to Hakuo Academy. What will come of his time here?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I was going to list Io since he is the protagonist, but the Acchi Kocchi section has no character listing to use, so I just listed the Hayate No Gotoku main ones. For those who haven't seen Acchi Kocchi, the show has a Part A and Part B each episode. And since Io is the mc here, I'll be doing the same.

Disclaimer: I don't own Acchi Kocchi or Hayate No Gotoku.

Part A:

The gang was walking towards their school, and it would appear that Mayoi was up to her typical teasing.

"Ho ho ho!" Mayoi laughed mischievously and leaned towards Tsumiki's ear. "Now's you chance Tsumiki-san."

"What is?" asked the short purple haired girl.

"Give Io-san the cold shoulder, and he will eventually realize his love for you, and come back saying 'Tsumiki, being away from you like this has made me think how much you really mean to me, go out with me'-"

"C-cute!" Hime yelled out as she nosebleed.

Tsumiki, who was so embarrassed fainted on spot with a red face.

"Hmm, what's wrong, Tsumiki?" asked Io.

Tsumiki wished Io would actually say that.

After they pressed on, they arrived at school and ran into Sakaki along the way.

"Yo!" Sakaki said greeting them.

"Morning, Sakaki-san," Hime said politely, followed by Mayoi doing the same.

"Did you hear?" asked Sakaki, gaining curious looks from the others.

"About what?" Io asked.

"It seems that one of the students here will be transferred to another school," he clarified.

"Tsumiki-san would be so sad if it were Io-san-EEEEEEEP!" Mayoi teased, but then yelped spastically when Tsumiki roughly squeezed the skin on her arm. "It hurts it hurts!"

Just then, an idea crossed Mayoi's mind that she just couldn't resist. Suddenly, Mayoi entered a craze and quickly dashed away, gaining question marks from everyone else.

Sakaki paled. "What did she just think about?" he wondered.

"Yeah," Io said, agreeing with a nervous sweat drop.

Part B:

They were in their classroom doing a test, when suddenly the intercom came on.

"Good morning students!" came Mayoi's voice from the intercom.

"Oh, it's Mayoi-san!" Hime said, the ever innocent girl.

"We have an announcement, one of our students is to transfer to another school," Mayoi said. "Io-san, it will be you!"

But before she could admit that she was only joking, she got stopped by the person in charge, and believing what Mayoi just said, stated for Io to come by the office. This, of course lead all of the girls, especially Hime and Tsumiki, in a state of shock and disappointment, as they enjoyed his company and how cute and charming of a guy he is. Tsumiki looked like she was going to cry, and Hime, knowing this got up and embraced her from behind.

"It's okay, I'm sure he won't be gone for long," Hime sweetly reassured her.

"Y-your right," Tsumiki said, barely able to get the words out.

"Don't worry," Io said, getting up and bending down to Tsumiki's height when he got to her. "I'll be back, besides we can still keep in touch and call each other. Furthermore, they never said I was to leave immediately."

"You promise?" she asked, to which was answered with a pet to her head by him as she blushed. "Nyaa!"

"I promise," he said gently as Hime nosebleed from the scene. "Now, I better get going."

"Yeah," Tsumiki said.

Io headed over to the office, where Mayoi tried to resolve the problem.

"I told you, it's a misunderstand-"

"Quiet!" the Teacher stopped her. "It's not your job to announce things like that without permission! Oh Io-kun! As you heard, you're being transferred to another school. I believe it is called Hakuo Academy."

"Hakuo Academy?" he asked.

"It's far away from here, but I hear that school has better education," the Teacher answered.

"I see," Io said, understanding.

"Before you go, be sure to say goodbye to your class," the Teacher said as Mayoi kept making spastic sounds.

"Roger," he said as he walked out.

Mayoi was about to go after him, but the Teacher grabbed her with a look that commanded she not dare try to leave.

"We're going to have a nice long talk," the Teacher said dangerously, which only terrified Mayoi into making sounds to indicate she was afraid.

After he returned to the classroom, he politely whispered things in the Teacher's ear, which prompted her to stop the students temporarely from their studying.

"As you heard, Io-kun is going to be leaving now, so let's give him a farewell," Kikue said.

"EHHHH, already!?" some of the girls protested.

The guys also protested, as they had respect for him not only because of his attitude, but because he was always popular with girls overall. Of course, some were jealous of his popularity as well.

"Sorry, but it is true," Kikue said sadly.

The news was depressing for everyone, but they walked up to him and wished him the best luck.

"Io," Tsumiki said walking up to him, and with every ounce of willpower she could muster, kissed him on the cheek, which made him blush and gained jealousy from many of the girls, while Hime had fainted after a nosebleed: In fact, Tsumiki fainted on spot in a nosebleed following kissing his cheek.

Although a bit flustered, he kept his composure.

"Thanks everyone, I hope you continue to be joyful," Io said in a sweet way, which made all of the girls nosebleed now.

After waving farewell to them as he left the class, he went home and packed up his stuff. While going through things, he found one of the pictures of him and Tsumiki and packed it with his stuff. Following this, a car pulled up next to his place, and the side door opened, beckoning it was time for him to go. Taking one last look at the area, and thinking of all his friends, he thought 'Farewell, everyone, let's meet again.' and then got in the car after closing it's door. With that it drove off. Now Io was on a new journey, to a new place.

A/N: I figured a perfect way to set this off, was with Mayoi goofing up on something. Io will meet some or most of the Hayate No Gotoku cast next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Acchi Kocchi or Hayate No Gotoku.

Part A:

Io yawned at one point, starting to look sleepy.

"Are you tired?" asked the car driver. "Go ahead and take a nap. It's going to be a days worth, or even more before we arrive at your destination."

Io nodded and closed his eyes. However, he would wake up here and there and watch the sceneries they drove by. Later, the car pulled up to a motel.

"We've arrived at your motel, sir," the man said, who had been driving the car.

"Thank you," Io said, bowing his head and getting out with his packed stuff.

Closing the side door of the car, he walked forward to the motel while the car drove away. After making his way to his designated room, he used a key given to him for it and unlocked the door. Not being one to be lazy, he immediately unpacked his stuff and put them away accordingly. The picture of him and Tsumiki, he placed on a small table near his bed. Knowing he won't go to Hakuo Academy until tomorrow, he took some time and headed downtown to explore. As he did, he looked curiously from left to right many times, as this was all new to him.

"Hmm? A video rental store?" Io wondered as he looked. "I'll check it out later."

"Um..." came a soft feminine voice.

Io looked in front of him to see the source of the voice. Why it was a girl in a purple komono with a tie in the middle to hold it on.

"You seem like you're lost," she said.

"Well, I just moved to this area from far away, so I don't know my way around here," Io clarified.

"I see, then I can show you around," she said smiling.

"Are you sure? I don't want to take up your time," Io said politely.

"No, it's no problem," the girl said.

"I got it," Io said, smiling at the girl's generosity.

They went along, as she started showing him around. However, in a matter of two minutes, the girl herself got lost. Thus she began to panic as she frantically looked around to what appeared to be an alleyway. The people hanging about there looked confused at the girl as she asked them one by one where they were.

'...This girl has no sense of direction,' Io thought with a sweat drop.

But he didn't want to leave her, as she took some of her time to try showing him around.

WACK!

For the girl had gotten hit in the back of the head by a paper fan.

"Are you okay!?" he asked in concern as the girl's eyes watered.

"Really Isumi, you really thought you could guide someone around when you can't even guide yourself without help!? Geez!" came another girl's voice.

"I won't answer a person who hits others with a paper fan," came Isumi's reply as she tried to compose herself.

Meanwhile Io walked up to the girl who hit Isumi. "Please forgive her, she willingly showed me around," Io said as he bowed his head.

"You mean, you're really not from here?" she asked, which was met with a nod by him. "Okay, I'll show you around. And this time we won't be getting lost."

"I don't get lost-" Isumi tried to protest, but Sakuya had grabbed her hand in a split second and pulled her along.

"Now now, let's go," said Sakuya, but then realized something. "Oh, what's your name?"

"I'm Io, and you?" he asked.

"My name is Sakuya, and as you know this is Isumi," she said. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Io said.

They spent some time showing him around. They came across many places, such as a big market, which Io noted as a place to get his food. They also came across an Arcade with green flashing lights on the building, which Io figured was good if he was ever very bored. Though without Sakaki there it wouldn't be as fun, as he had a challange back then. Sakuya was quick to stop Isumi if she started making them go off course. Eventually, he decided to head back.

He bowed his head politely. "Thank you for showing me around," Io said.

"Yeah," Isumi said, smiling.

"Of course," Sakuya said, happy to hear the praise.

"I hope to meet more kind people like you two," Io said very sweetly.

This made both Isumi and Sakuya blush.

"Later," Io said with a wave of his hand before heading back.

"He, he is charming," Sakuya said, still flustered by what he said.

"Like a prince," Isumi commented.

Part B:

Next day, Io had gotten ready and headed to Hakuo Academy's gate. This school required specific clothes to wear. Thankfully he was provided with a pair ahead of time. As he headed through the gate, many others were as well. Taking out a guide note for his designated class, he looked over it.

'Hmm, class b second floor,' Io thought.

Once he arrived on the second floor and neared the classroom, a girl with green hair was standing there.

"Are you my teacher?" he asked.

"Ah, you must be the transfer student, um, Io was it?" she asked, to which was met with a nod from him. "I am Yukiji, Katsura Yukiji. I'll be your teacher for this class."

With that, Io was about to walk in class, but he didn't sit down anywhere, as he had not been specified where to sit, so he simply walked in front of the chalk board and awaited further instructions. He looked around, and noticed everybody was seated and was simply chattering with each other until class begins.

"Alright everyone!" Yukiji declared, causing them to quiet down and stop talking. "Before we begin, I'd like to announce that we have a new student with us starting today!"

The last part she pumped her fist. Io, with a slight bow, introduced himself.

"My name is Io, I just transferred here from far away, but I hope I can get along with all of you," he said in his considerant sweet voice.

Some girls were blushing. Izumi, one of the girls in the class face-desked in a nosebleed with a very red face, while Miki, the girl seated next to her was trying very hard to hold back a nosebleed while blushing.

"He seems like a nice guy," a boy by the name of Hayate commented.

"Y-yeah!" Nagi said, a girl with two yellow ponytails who was trying to cover her face so nobody could see it at the moment, especialy Hayate.

"Let's see...ah! How about you sit over there." Yukiji suggested.

Io walked over to the pointed desk, which was next to Izumi and Miki's, and sat in it. Izumi had composed herself and her desk wiped clean of the blood. The lessons then began. Yukiji at one point called Io to answer a question, which he did effortlessly. Later on, their lunch break started, so Io begun to pack up his stuff.

"I-Io-kun," came Izumi's voice, causing him to stop what he was doing and face to his left.

"Hmm? What is it?" Io asked.

"I'm Izumi, the class representative of this class, nice to meet you," Izumi greeted very friendly. "I'm the Red!"

"Mmm, nice to meet you," Io said politely with a sweat drop at her last part.

"I'm Risa, the Disciplinary Officer!" Risa proclamed proudly and dramatically. "I'm the Black!"

"And I'm Miki, the Vice-class representative!" Miki stated with the same dramatic flare as Risa. "I'm the Blue!"

"Together, we are the Student Council Task Force!" all three proclamed very dramatically.

"...Huh?" was all Io could say at their silliness while sweat dropping, but smiled a bit. 'These girls...'

For a brief moment his other friends popped into his mind. Their foolishness reminded him of them. He got out of his seat now.

"I don't really know anyone around here, so I'll eat with you guys, if it's okay with you," Io said.

"No we don't mind," Izumi said cheerfully.

"Yeah, we were about to go hide and slack off anyway," Miki said.

"Slack off-hey!" Io protested as the three grabbed him along.

"Don't worry, we'll be back by the end of lunch...at least I think so," Risa added under her breath.

'That's not very convincing!' Io thought in protest.

After a bit, they arrived in what appeared to be some sort of office. Finding some chairs they sat in and started eating their lunch.

"Shouldn't you three be out patrolling? You are the Student Council Task Force," Io pointed out.

"What are you saying, we mostly just laze about and use our position to sneak out of class many times," Miki declared proudly.

'That's not something to be glad about!' he thought.

"Right, where did you live before Io-kun?" Izumi asked him.

Io explained where he came from, and how sudden the transfer was.

"But weren't your friends sad that you had to leave so quickly?" Izumi asked, knowing it must have been hard for him to up and leave all of his friends just like that.

That made him lower his head some. Indeed it was hard for him, even more than he had let on in front of his other friends.

"S-sorry!" Izumi said with her hands out towards him, realizing she may have struck a personal point and made him feel down.

Io shook his head. "It's okay, it's true I miss them, but I know we'll meet again soon," he said, and then faced the trio. "Besides, I'm going to make new memories with all of you. That alone makes me feel better."

This caused all three to blush and nosebleed.

"A-are you all alright?!" he asked in concern.

"What's with all the noise you three?" came an aggressive female voice. "Man, I know it's lunch but could you keep it down-Eh!? What happened?!"

She noticed that the trio had red faces, steam coming out, and blood from their nose. After they recovered from it, the pink haired girl spoke up again.

"So, who's this?" the pink haired girl asked as she looked at Io.

"This is Io-kun, a new student in our class," Izumi happily said.

Io observed this girl. She was certainly beautiful, if not a bit aggressive.

"I see, you were trying to make him be another lazy one just like you guys," she said tiredly.

"Don't say that like it is a bad thing!" the trio protested in unison.

"How is that not a bad thing?!" Io asked out loud.

"Io-kun was it?" Hinagiku said as she walked up to him. "I'm Hinagiku, nice to meet you. I am the Student Council President of this school. If there's anything you want to ask, you can always ask me. And if these three give you problems, just tell me and I'll deal with them."

"As expected of the Student Council President," Risa muttered.

"Mmm, strict as ever," Miki said under her breath.

"I'll be sure to," Io calmly said.

"Good," Hinagiku said as she walked away.

"What do you think Io-kun? Isn't Hinagiku very pretty?" Risa teased.

"I think so," Io honestly said.

This made Hinagiku, who was not out of earshot, blush from the comment, but she didn't turn back and walked forward so as to not cause suspicion on the trio.

"But, I think you three are great as well," Io considerately said with an innocent smile.

That made the trio nosebleed and faint.

"...What happened?" Io wondered.

A/N: I figured a running gag that would probably happen, is the trio being charmed by and nosebleeding from some of Io's comments. He had that effect on many girls in the show, and I think the trio would be charmed often enough by him if they ever met, and nosebleed too. For those wondering why Nagi and Hayate didn't introduce themselves to him. Nagi doesn't seem like the type that would introduce herself to just anyone unless they introduced themself to her first, or she was forced to. Hayate seems like he would wait until he was talked to first in terms of introducing himself (the little introducing things before the actuall show don't count). The trio on the other hand, I think they would introduce themselves to him without him having to first. The trio is pretty out going, and I can't see them not introduce themselves to him.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Acchi Kocchi or Hayate No Gotoku.

Part A:

In another part of the world, it was after school. It was no secret to Hime that Tsumiki had a very depressing air about her. Mayoi on the other hand has been acting nervous and had an air of guilt ever since yesterday.

"Tsumiki-san, if you're that worried, why don't you call him?" Hime suggested.

"Maybe, but if he's still in school, I don't want to disturb him," Tsumiki said sadly.

"No way, school is probably over by then," Hime said, trying to remain positive. "Come on, I'm sure he'd be really happy to hear your voice."

That made Tsumiki blush a bit, and her ears to raise up in the shape of cat ears despite the fact her ears were still just normal ears like anyone else. Taking out her phone, she dialed the address he gave her.

Ring Ring..."Hello," came Io's voice.

Tsumiki was very relieved just to be able to hear his voice again.

"I-Io," Tsumiki started a bit shyly. "Are you enjoying your new school?"

"Yeah," Io admitted. "Of course, I'm not entirely used to it yet since it's only been a day. But, I'm starting to make friends. How are things on your end? Mayoi causing trouble like usual?"

"No, she's been rather quiet since you left," Tsumiki stated. "It's odd, but she won't say anything."

"I see," Io said. 'Is it because she misses me?'

As they chatted, Mayoi kept quiet as they walked. The guilt was getting to her. But, she was beyond terrified of what Tsumiki may do to her if she told them what actually happened.

'What should I do!?' Mayoi panicked in her head.

She hadn't noticed Hime walk back towards her while Tsumiki talked with Io.

"What's wrong?" Hime asked innocently.

"EEEEP!" Mayoi jumped, caught off guard. "D-don't scare me like that Hime-chi!"

"You've been weird since yesterday," Hime said with concern. "You haven't once tried to tease Tsumiki-san or mess with anyone like you usually would."

"That's..." Mayoi said, not able to retort out of guilt, and deciding to change the subject by being her usual self. "That's right Hime-chi, don't you miss Io-san?"

"Of course I do," Hime said.

"Maybe, you were hoping for Io-san to pet you more?" Mayoi teased.

"T-that's not true!" Hime protested with embarrassment, and waving her arms about defensively.

"Yo!" Sakaki said catching up to them. "What are you guys doing?"

Mayoi became nervous. 'This is bad, if he suspects anything, he might blurt it out to everyone,' Mayoi thought.

"Tsumiki-san is talking to Io-kun on the phone, and Mayoi-san has been stra-mmph!" Hime said, but Mayoi put a hand over her mouth to stop her from saying any farther.

"Stra?" wondered Sakaki, and curious why Mayoi stopped Hime and looked worried, but he concluded it could just be his imagination. "I'm going to talk to Io-EEEE!"

He was immediately stopped by an intense glare from Tsumiki when he neared her. This caused him to sweat drop.

"Scary!" both Hime and Mayoi commented.

After Tsumiki and Io hung up, Mayoi suddenly flung into her usual mood.

"He heh, let's have a contest!" Mayoi yelled out as she whipped out what looked like jet backpacks.

"What are those?" asked Hime.

"You see, these backpacks have been enhanced by yours truly, and turned into jet powered backpacks!" Mayoi bragged in a dramatic flare.

"That's dangerous!" Sakaki yelled at her.

"Io-san may not be here, but let's still try to have some fun," Mayoi said positively. "Don't you think so, Tsumiki-san?"

After a few seconds, Tsumiki nodded, knowing Io would want her to have fun with her friends even if he wasn't there. Of course, that really stung Mayoi, who was already feeling bad enough.

"Hmm, but where do we race to?" asked Sakaki.

"That's right, we'll race to the lake in that direction," Mayoi pointed.

"Yes! You're on!" Sakaki said competitively.

"Eh!? We're going through with this!?" Hime asked in a panic.

Everyone put on the jetpacks Mayoi made. The girl had a knack for inventing inventions, no matter how absurd they could be.

"On your marks, get set! GOOOOOO!" Mayoi yelled.

Everyone's jetpack ignited and they took off, except Hime, who kept pressing the launch button, but nothing was happening. However, to Hime's panic, the jetpack suddenly fired her forward without warning.

"A-aaaaah!" Hime screamed as she blasted foreward at a very fast speed, unable to control herself.

Back with the others, Mayoi and Sakaki were competing with one another.

"Victory will be mine!" Sakaki yelled with confidence as he pushed a button on his jet powered backpack, the result being arms that attempted to grab Mayoi.

"Take this, the oil blaster!" Mayoi said, also pushing a button and firing a black ooze at Sakaki.

As they finally were approaching the lake, Sakaki and Mayoi kept trying to fight for first place, but then Tsumiki caught up. However, the other two were so caught up in their fight they didn't notice. Tsumiki pushed a button on her jetpack, which boosted her speed to such a level she was like a flying meteor. At overwhelming speed, she passed by Mayoi and Sakaki so fast that she rammed them out of the way. But this didn't stop them and they gave on the chase. In the end, Tsumiki made it to the lake and thus was the winner.

"We lost!" both Sakaki and Mayoi depressedly said as they landed.

"Eh, where is Hime-chi?" Mayoi said, wondering why Hime hasn't caught up by now.

"Dunno," Tsumiki said.

"GHAAAHAAAHAAAA!" came Hime's freaked out voice as she flew at them uncontrollably with her jetpack.

All three of them were horrified upon the realization that they could potentailly be hit. They immediatly did their best to run away as she drew nearer. But because she was flying uncontrollably, despite their best efforts, Sakaki and Mayoi took the full brunt of Hime head-on. When the smoke cleared, Hime could be seen totally unconscious, while Mayoi and Sakaki had bruises and were greatly dizzy.

Later, the guilt was really eating at Mayoi. It's not like she tried to really get Io transferred like that, but she knew she really messed up this time, and it cost her one of her best friends leaving.

'I, am a horrible person,' Mayoi thought in guilt, and knowing the pain she caused Tsumiki over this made her feel now that much worse. "Um, I have a confession to make."

"Confession?" Sakaki wondered, but then grinned. "Could it be, you like Io?"

"It's not that!" Mayoi protested flusteredly. "It's...you know Io was transferred, right."

"Yeah, what about it?" Sakaki asked her.

"Well, the truth is...I only pretended that Io would transfer, and a teacher thought what I said was true, when it was only a prank," Mayoi said nervously and then laughed weakly.

"EHHHH!" all three of them yelled out loud at her revelation.

Suddendly, an insane comical purple aura enveloped Tsumiki, as if responding to the level of rage she now was feeling towards Mayoi.

"W-wait, it's true I messed up, but-"

BAM!

Tsumiki lept at intense speed, tackled her, and hit her so rapidly that smoke enveloped them. Meanwhile Sakaki and Hime did not dare to try and stop Tsumiki when she was this mad. After this, the smoke cleared and surrounding the two was a hole. Tsumiki then grabbed Mayoi and fixed her with a death glare, which only made Mayoi yell in terror.

"Call Io, and tell him everything!" Tsumiki said in a voice that clearly was not in a good mood.

Mayoi nodded in terror. She'd never seen Tsumiki this angry before, and there was no way she was going to protest in the least at the moment.

Part B:

Io was walking into the school grounds, and seeing he had time to spare, decided to go sit by a tree and relax. Suddenly, a good fifteen to eighteen cats showed up and sat near him. One even sitting on his head. The cat purred as Io petted it's head, which only made him smile.

"Huh, Io-kun?" came Hinagiku's voice as she walked towards him, but then sweat dropped. "Where did all these cats come from, and why are they all snuggling up to you?"

"Don't know," Io calmly said. "Back where I'm from, this happened pretty often for some reason. Cats seem drawn to me."

"Eh?" Hinagiku wondered in surprise. "Well, you seem good with treating animals. Truth is, I'm always wondering this area to look out for any injured or stuck animals."

"Injured or stuck animals?" Io asked.

"That's right, every now and then I'll see things like a bird injured and nobody to help it," Hinagiku said with sadness in her voice. "It's unfortunate."

Io smiled, she really cared for animals.

"You're kind, Hinagiku," Io said softly.

That made Hinagiku blush. Just then Io's phone in his pocket started ringing.

"Hello? Ah Mayoi, what is it?" Io asked.

'That must be one of his friends from where he used to live,' Hinagiku thought as she listened to him.

"You see..." Mayoi trailed off.

Hinagiku watched as Io's expression became a troubled one.

"You..." Io said with annoyance.

"I know I know, I'm sorry!" Mayoi said sincerely, which made him sigh.

"It's alright," Io said. "Besides, it's not like I'm going to be here for too long. After a month I'll be coming back."

That caused a surprising look from Hinagiku.

"Look after Tsumiki until then," Io told her.

"Roger!" Mayoi declared, returning to her cheerful self.

Io then hung up and closed his phone.

"Io-kun, what do you mean you won't be here for long?" Hinagiku asked.

"I was transferred here from another school for only a month," said Io.

"But why?" Hinagiku asked.

"I can't tell you," Io said, not wanting to worry other people about this matter, and thought they may not buy the reason.

"Well, it sounds difficult," Hinagiku said understandingly. "In any case, I hope you enjoy your time here."

"I will, because people like you are here," Io said very considerately.

Hinagiku's face now turned bright red as her heart beat quickened.

"What's wrong?" Io asked with concern.

"N-nothing!" said Hinagiku as she ran away.

Io watched her with confusion as she ran off with a question mark on his head. Meanwhile after Hinagiku got out of his sight, she took some breaths to cool down.

'Man, what was that?' Hinagiku thought, and then blushed bright red to the point of steaming just remembering his words and kind face. 'Calm down calm down! Why am I this flustered!? And I just showed a weak side to him!'

Meanwhile, Io left for his classroom. After getting to his seat, he sat down, preparing for class to start.

"Good morning, Io-kun," came Izumi, who was sitting in her chair to his left.

"Good morning, Izumi," Io said.

As they talked, Hayate spoke to Nagi. "Segawa-san and her friends seem to be getting along well with him," Hayate commented as he observed them talking with Io.

"Mmm," was Nagi's reply.

Class begun, and things went like usual. At one point Izumi noticed Io spinning his pencil at rapid speed. He looked very casual about it like it was normal. She was shocked that he could still hold the pencil despite how fast he was spinning it between two fingers.

BANG!

The pencil finally shot out of his hand and straight through a game portable that Yukiji was holding, pinning it to the wall. Yukiji was left shocked and terrified that that could have been her. Most of the classmates didn't even know where the pencil flew from due it being so blindingly fast.

"...Sorry," Io said, surprised that even happened.

'Like a bullet!' the trio thought.

After school, Io was packing up his stuff and prepared to leave, but Izumi called out to him.

"Io-kun," Izumi said, bubbly as ever.

"What is it?" Io asked.

"Let's walk home together," Izumi suggested, Miki and Risa quickly gather by her to agree with her.

"Sure," Io said, seeing no reason to complain.

As they walked home they conversed.

"Where do you live, Io-kun?" Izumi asked, the others wanting to know too so they can visit him.

Io decided to walk there to show them. On their way there, a very action-packed situation was on hand.

"Give up, Ayasaki Hayate! The inheritance will be mine!" a man with a yellow hair afro yelled as he attempted to hit Hayate with his machine.

"Again?" Hayate said, sighing from how many times this man tried and lost each time.

"Disappear disappear, Ayasaki Hayate!" the man declared, but as his mech's arms were going to make contact with Hayate, Hayate dodged at rapid speed and straight up shot through the mech, which caused the man to go flying as the mech exploded. "No waaaaaay!"

'What kind of training did he go through?!' Io wondered in surprise.

"Still brutal as ever, that Ayasaki," Risa said.

"You know him?" asked Io.

"Of course," Miki said proudly. "He's a butler who works for Nagi at the Sanzenin Mansion."

"A butler?" Io said in curiosity.

"That's right, you haven't met him yet have you?" Izumi chimed in.

"Well, I remember seeing him in class," Io said as he looked at him.

"Hey Hayata-kun!" Izumi called out, causing Hayate to turn his head towards her.

"Ah, Segawa-san," Hayate said walking towards her, but then took notice of the person with them. "Huh, you're Io-san, the one from our class."

"Nice to meet you," Io bowed politely. "If I remember, you're Ayasaki aren't you?"

"That's right," Hayate said with an air of livelyness. "But you can just call me Hayate."

"What are you?" Io asked with a sweat drop. "You blasted through a robot like it was no big deal."

"Hmm, well I use to do a lot of jobs when I was younger," Hayate said as if it was nothing.

"What kind of jobs did he do!?" Io asked as he sweat dropped.

"We wonder that ourselves," Miki said, agreeing how ridiculously strong Hayate was.

"By the way, are you sure these are the best people to hang out with?" Hayate asked while giving the other three a look of annoyance. "They're idiots."

"Don't say it like that!" the trio protested.

"My previous friends were a lot like them," Io said. "So I'm fine with it. Besides, I like being with them. It makes me happy to be friends with them."

Both Hayate and Io noticed that all three were blushing and staring at Io with open smiles.

"Huh?" Hayate said in confusion as he watched them fawn over Io.

A/N: I never understood why Izumi says Hayate's name wrong in the show and Manga, but it's what it is.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Acchi Kocchi or Hayate No Gotoku.

Part A:

"Weekend already," Io mused as he walked downtown.

Meanwhile at the Video Rental Store, Nagi was looking through some DVDs and found an anime that got her interest. The cover featured a boy holding a fishing rod.

"Tsurit**a," Nagi said.

"I saw that before, the yellow haired character was pretty weird, sort of like you-" a boy by the name of Wataru said, only to be wacked over the head by Nagi, leaving a big lump on his head.

"What's that about me being weird!?" Nagi asked in annoyance and a vein pop.

"S-sorry," Wataru got out. "Still struggling with your Manga's you never do well with?"

Io on the other hand had just arrived after a minute or so, as he wanted to check out their DVDs. But on coming in he spotted an argument between the two young teens.

"My Manga isn't bad! What's wrong with it!?" Nagi said with annoyance.

"Who the heck would buy or read this!?" Wataru asked spastically after looking over it.

"Excuse me?" came Io's voice, breaking the argument.

"You're Io," Nagi said with surprise.

"You know him?" Wataru asked her, curious.

"Mmm, he transferred to our class a few days ago," said Nagi.

"I remember seeing you in class, um...," Io said.

"Nagi, Sanzinen Nagi," Nagi said with an air of friendliness.

"Nice to meet you, Sanzinen Nagi," Io bowed his head politely. 'Sanzinen Nagi, could it be that Hayate person is her butler?'

"Just Nagi will do, you don't have to add the Sanzinen," Nagi said with a finger slightly pointed up next to her head.

"I got it, Nagi," said Io gently. "By the way, I overheard you two arguing about her Manga. Would you mind if I took a look at it?"

Nagi handed it to him as he skimmed through. 'T-this is not good!' Io thought with a sweat drop, but took a better approach. "Your Manga is good."

"EHHH!" Wataru yelled.

"Really!?" Nagi asked with hopefulness.

"Yes, but can I suggest a few things on how you can improve it?" Io asked, and then kneeled down to her level and showed her the many things throughout, and what she could change or alter in order to make it a lot better. "If you do these things, your Manga will be much better."

He then hands the Manga back to her. "Now I see," Nagi said, understanding.

"What did you come here for?" Wataru asked Io.

"I was curious about what DVDs were here," Io said who then walked towards the shelfs. "I'm going to look at some."

"There is some good ones like "Dra*on Ball *," Wataru suggested.

Io on the other hand looked at the many DVDs and continued his walk around the store. All the while, Nagi was observing him. Taking a DVD that caught his interest, he gave some money to Wataru and rented it. Saying goodbye to them, he left the store.

"Hey!" Nagi called out to him as she ran out of the store, and after catching her breath, slightly blushed as she looked down. "U-um...thank you."

"You're welcome," Io said. "You said before you are Sanzinen Nagi, by any chance could it be you live at the place Hayate does?"

"You met Hayate?" Nagi asked with surprise.

"Yeah, I also heard from Miki that he was a butler at a place called Sanzinen Mansion," said Io.

"That's right, you haven't been there yet have you?" Nagi asked.

"I haven't," said Io.

"Then, why don't you come with me back to the mansion?" Nagi asked.

"Are you sure?" Io asked, not wanting to stir up any trouble.

"It's fine," Nagi said with a friendly face, as they started heading to her mansion. "That person you met, he's my butler."

'I knew it,' he thought. "He's strong."

"Right," Nagi said proudly.

After a bit of walking, they arrived at the gate of the mansion.

'H-huge!' Io thought with a sweat drop as he saw the mansion in it's entirety after the gate opened.

As they walked through the yard, Io looked around and saw the pretty flowers planted. They looked as though they were still blooming, but clearly were takin good care of. Once they arrived at the door, Nagi opened it and they went inside.

"Welcome back, Ojou-sama!" Hayate said, at the same time took notice of who was with her. "Oh Io-san! What brings you here?"

"I invited him over," Nagi said in a friendly voice.

"I'll show him around then," Hayate suggested, as they proceeded to take a tour around the place while Nagi went and did some adjustments to her Manga, taking in consideration the things Io said.

"This place is huge," Io commented as they walked about.

"I couldn't believe it myself when I first came here," Hayate said.

A white Tiger by the name of Tama was walking towards them, speaking with it's eyes shut.

"Man, that Ayasaki ruining my plans like he always does!" he said in an angry voice.

"I-it talked!?" Io said in shock.

In a flash, Tama got up next to him, and put a hand around his shoulder.

"Listen up! Most don't know I can talk or that I'm a Tiger!" Tama said cool-like. "So be a good boy and keep quiet about it!"

"Actually, most would immediately take you for a Tiger!" Hayate pointed out in annoyance.

"Agreed," Io said with a sweat drop. "And why is there a big Tiger on the loose in this place?"

"It's a long story," Hayate said, finding it ridiculous as well.

"Hayate-kun!" a girl named Maria called out.

The result, Tama immediately hid behind an innocent cat-like friendly demeanor, lowered down to four feet on the ground so that he was not standing up, and purred around Io while making cat sounds.

'Seriously...' Io thought as he looked at Tama.

"Could you help me with the rice-huh? Who's this?" Maria said, noticing Io's presence.

"I'm Io, nice to meet you," Io said politely and bowing his head.

"He's a new student from our class," Hayate explained. "Ojou-sama ran into him and invited him over."

"Is that so, I am Maria, nice to meet you Io-kun," Maria said with a friendly attitude. "Sorry for stopping you two, but can I borrow you for just a while Hayate?"

"Of course!" Hayate said happily and then turned to Io. "Well, I'm off."

"Yeah," Io said as he watched them walk off. 'What should I do?'

Io decided to continue walking about on his own. He eventually came across a large door. Slowly opening the door, he saw Nagi in a chair working on what appeared to be her Manga.

"Nagi," Io said walking towards her.

"Huh? Oh Io, did Hayate show you around?" Nagi asked him.

"He was, but Maria wanted his help with something," Io clarified to the twin tailed girl. "How's your Manga going?"

"Great! I'm getting a good feeling from this!" Nagi said with excitement as she rapidly moved her fingers above it.

Io took a look at it. It would seem Nagi was applying his suggestions. Before it was beyond absurd, but he didn't want to say it and seem rude, so instead said things that would improve it.

"Good, it's looking better," Io said noted.

"Mmm, thanks to you!" Nagi said with happiness. "You know, before I wasn't really very encouraged with my Manga."

"Huh?" Io said, curious about that.

"All people would say was my Manga is bad, or not tell me what it is that I'm doing wrong, or just say 'Don't give up!'" Nagi said in a lower voice. "But, you told me things that I really could do to improve it and what type of problems it had. I'm grateful, Io."

Io smiled and put a hand to her hand. "I'm happy to help, just seeing you work hard is a wonderful thing," Io said in consideration.

Nagi blushed from that statement and turned her head so he couldn't see it.

Part B:

A few days later, during early night time. Io was in his room sitting in a chair and preparing to do his homework, but noticed the paper wasn't in his bag.

"No way!' Io thought in realization. 'But, can I sneak in and out without getting caught? Guess there's no helping it.'

Sighing, he got up, left his room and headed towards the school. Arriving at the closed gate, he carefully looked in all directions, and after seeing nobody spotted him, quickly hopped over the fence and landed as softly as he could. He then continued into the school as quietly as possible. Although dark, Io was able to work his way through it. Getting to his classroom, he was quick to get the paper left on his desk and leave. As he walked out, he heard a noise from behind him and turned around. It was the trio.

"Io-kun?" Izumi said in surprise that he was still here

"Well well, what are you doing here Io-kun?" Miki asked with an amused look and folded arms.

"I left my homework here by accident, so I came to get it," Io clarified and held it up for them to see. "I'm sorry for breaking in like this, I'll leave-"

"That won't do!" Risa said as all three grabbed him and pulled him along.

"Wh-what are you-" Io got out but was cut off.

"Things will be much funner with Io-kun here!" Izumi said in a happy bubbly voice.

"H-hey!" Io tried to protest as they kept pulling him along.

"Just come along!" Miki said in a happy carefree voice.

Arriving at a somewhat messed up room, they dragged him in and closed the door.

"Let the slumber party begin!" Izumi declared.

"Huh? Slumber party!?" Io said in surprise.

They then made some food and drinks and had some snacks.

"So, what are you three doing here this late?" Io asked.

"We had to make up for not doing some homework, so we stayed here," Miki said.

"This long!?" Io said with a sweat drop.

"Did you guys finish your homework already-eh?" came Yukiji''s voice as she walked in. "Io, w-what are you doing here?"

"I only came back to get my homework, and these three took me here," Io clarified, and then saw the trio laughing nervously, obviously afraid of being in trouble. "You guys...there's no helping it, I'll help you. Yukiji, leave this to me. We'll be out of here after a while."

"Well, if you say so," Yukiji said and then walked off after shutting the door.

"Really!?" asked Izumi.

"Is that true!?" Risa asked.

"You'll help us!?" Miki asked with relief in her tone like the other two.

"Yeah," Io said gently.

They took out their homework and showed him. In turn he looked through and helped them with the answers, all the while doing his own homework. There were times where they didn't want to do their homework, but quickly complied when Io questioned if they wanted his help or not. Eventually, all of the homework was done.

A bit later, Yukiji had just returned to check on the trio's progress. Opening the door, she was surprised at the sight. Io was asleep on the bed sheet, with the trio snuggled up to him. But noticing the homework, it was all done. Yukiji smiled, thanking Io for the help, and quietly closed off the light.

"Onee-chan! Are they done yet!?" Hinagiku groaned only to be shushed by Yukiji. "Io-kun? Why is he-"

"That guy is pretty kind," Yukiji said. "He forgot his homework so he came back to get it and was forced in there by those three. Yet, he still decided to help them. They also seem really fond of him."

"You're right," Hinagiku said in agreement with her sister.

Over the course of days since Io came to this school, Hinagiku noticed how they seemed fond of and wanted to hang out with him. Well, it spared her the trouble of having to put up with the three as often, which was a good relief.

"But, it's surprising that he was able to help them finish their homework," Hinagiku noted in an impressed voice.

"Really," Yukiji said in agreement. "Those three can be such troublemakers."

'You're a handful yourself at times!' Hinagiku pointed out at Yukiji in her head while sweat dropping in annoyance.

And so ends another day of events.

A/N: Does anyone else ever wonder why nobody ever really helps Nagi in regards to her Manga? They do encourage her to not give up, but they're really not helpful where it counts, and some of them make things worse for her. It drives me nuts, all they ever do is coddle her instead of actually helping and telling her what the actuall issues are and how she can improve (not to mention we have seen before that she does take legit advice on her Manga). I really don't like that in the Anime and Manga (especialy in the Manga). She did get advice from the butler robot Hayate, but it was pretty vague compared to the advice Hinagiku gave Ruka on her Manga.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Acchi Kocchi or Hayate No Gotoku.

Part A:

Next morning, Io was getting his stuff ready and preparing to head out. Before all this, he had been the first to wake up at school. He moved quietly so as to not wake up the trio, giving a smile to the sleeping three before leaving for home so he could gather up his things.

Back with the trio. They finally woke up, and after wiping the sleepiness out of their eyes, noticed Io wasn't there.

"Eh? Where is Io-kun?" Izumi asked

"He went back home to get his stuff," said Yukiji before grinning. "But, you three seemed to be having a great time with him, all so comfortable sleeping next to him."

The three blushed at her statement and made no comment while avoiding her gaze.

With Io, he had just left the apartment and was on his way to school. The clouds were clear, and the air was very fresh, so he breathed in heavily to take it in and then breathed back out. It was warmer here compared to where he used to live. He had some time to kill, so he decided to go to a vending machine and buy a drink. On his way, he came across a girl close to his height, who looked like she was having a delight eating her ice cream. But, the ice cream fell out due to the girls clumsiness.

"My ice cream!" the girl groaned as tears slid down her face. "I was hoping this morning would start off nice!"

Io, who saw the whole thing, walked up to her, for she was sitting on a bench. He took out some money and held it near her face, catching her attention at last.

"Then, buy another one. Here." Io said calmly.

"A-are you sure!?" the girl asked in surprise, which Io nodded to. "Thank you very much!"

With new excitement, the girl got up and went back to the ice cream booth.

"Now," Io said as he took out some more money and bought a soda before sweat dropping. 'Mayoi would probably shake this and tell someone to open it!'

Going over to the bench the girl was at, he sat down, opened the tip of the soda can and started to drink. By the time he was done, he realized he had to get a move on or he would be late for class.

"Shoot!" Io said out loud as he quickly threw the soda in the trash can and ran towards the school.

After making it to school, he kept running, ignoring anyone telling him not to run. Making it to the classroom just in time, he stopped running, and went to his seat. Lunch had been like normal, with Io and the trio eating together and chatting. But after school, as Io was leaving the classroom, the trio called out to him.

"What is it?" Io asked.

"Do you have anything going on right now?" Risa asked, which Io shook his head.

"Then, do you want to come eat with us somewhere?" Izumi asked with excitement clear in her voice.

"Sure," Io said.

"Yes, then let's go!" said Miki with a voice of excitement.

So they headed off towards a place to eat. Though Io wondered why they wanted to go somewhere with him to eat, when they did eat lunch together earlier in the day. After finding a place they sat down and took their orders. Io had offered to pay for it, but the trio insisted they would.

"Here is your food, just as you ordered," a female said while bringing it all over and laying each one next to the respective orderer. "By the way, which of these lovely girls is your girlfriend?"

"Huh?" Io said, caught off guard.

The trio on the other hand blushed greatly and made an "EHHH!" sound at the sametime, greatly flustered by the unexpected comment.

'What's with them?' Io wondered. "None of them are, we're just eating together."

"Is that so?" the girl said, now getting it.

With all the food on the table, the four dug in. Every now and then Izumi would glance at Io, but then blush and look back down when he noticed her looking at him. Likewise Miki and Risa ate their food while still feeling flustered by what that person said. Once they finished eating, the trio left the money on the table. As they walked out in silence, Io broke that.

"So, why did you guys want to take me somewhere to eat?" Io asked.

"Well-" Miki tried to start albiet shyly, but Izumi spoke up.

"We wanted to take you somewhere as thanks for helping us with our homework," Izumi confessed.

'No hesitation!' Miki and Risa thought in awe.

"I see," Io said before turning to them and stopping while smiling. "Thank you."

The three blushed at this.

"You're very considerant of others," Io said softly. "That kindness is one of the things I like about you three."

This caused all three to nosebleed while making flustered sounds.

Part B:

In the school, Io was helping the trio with some boxes, when they got called for something. So in the meantime, Io took over doing it all himself. While he was stacking the boxes on a table, a girl approached him from behind. Io was taken by surprise however when she embraced him from behind.

"W-what's wrong?" Io asked, caught off guard by the sudden action.

"The thing is, I love you!" the girl proclaimed in a shy voice.

Io wide eyed at this, but closed his eyes after a few second. "Sorry," he said in a low voice. "But, I can't go out with a person I've only just met. Love is something very precious. To me, I'd want to go out with someone I've known for a while and am friends with. What's more, if I don't want to go out with you but I said yes, you would believe that lie and be happy by it. That's wrong! I would never do such a thing to someone!"

"Now I see why those three are so attached to you," the girl said, taking her arms away and smiling.

"Huh?" Io said facing her.

"Forgive me for decieving you like that," the girl said. "But, I wanted to see what kind of person you were. Hayate could learn from you."

That made Io give a curious look.

"He's very insensitive to the feelings of those around him, and he lacks tac and maturity," the girl pointed out.

"Agreed," Io said rememering some of his stupidity from yesterday with Nagi.

He recalled how Hayate so recklessly told Nagi a person like her wouldn't get something that he was saying. It boggled Io's mind he was that careless considering he's already seen how Nagi can be in temper. You'd think Hayate would have learned to watch himself, but instead he often is dense to what he said wrong.

"Ah-chooo!" Hayate sneezed elsewhere. "Somehow, I've this feeling I'm being talked about."

Back with Io and the girl.

"At some point, those three started talking about you a lot," the girl said. "They seem to have really taken a liking to you."

"Is that so?" Io said, understanding.

"Sorry, I should have introduced myself earlier, I'm Aika," Aika said.

"I'm Io, nice to meet you," Io said bowing his head politely.

Aika giggled with a hand close to her mouth.

Later on, Io was leaving the school and walking home, when someone called out to him.

"Hm? Ah Izumi," Io said as he recognized the girl walking towards him from behind. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Miki and Risa?"

"They got into some trouble for breaking Hina-chan's Council Sign," Izumi said nervously. "Where are you going, Io-kun?"

"Heading home for now," Io answered.

"Can I come with you?" Izumi asked, all bubbly to which he nodded in response. "Alright-n-no um I mean-"

"It's alright," Io said as he calmly patted her head, while she looked down in embarrassment.

Once they arrived at his apartment, he unlocked it and welcomed her inside.

"Make yourself at home. I have some homework I need to do though," Io said.

Io took out his paper, and after getting a pencil, started filling out the questions with either a yes or no. On the other hand, as he was doing this, Izumi took out an extra pair of clothes she had in her bag. Io, out of the corner of his eyes, saw what she was about to do and came to a stone stop.

"Wh-what are you doing!?" Io asked, flustered by this.

"Huh? Changing," Izumi said friendly-like.

'Th-this girl, has she no shame!?' Io thought in his head. "But I'm right here!"

"That's why I'm turned around so you can't see the front," Izumi said, who then started to blush. "Io-kun, please don't look."

"I won't," Io said as he looked back at his homework. "I would be a pervert for looking at a kind girl that way."

Izumi blushed very heavily at that statement, such that she had steam coming out of her head. Her heart rate also quickly sped up. After regaining her composure, she put on her new clothes and joined Io on his bed. Eventually Io finished the homework, and stretched his hands out briefly.

"Hey, what were your other friends like?" Izumi suddenly asked him.

"Hmm, let's see," Io thought as he looked up at the ceiling. "They could be idiots most of the time. But, I always had fun with them. We would always do crazy things together, such as an advanced Snowball fight where we shot Snowballs at each other with these crazy inventions Mayoi would make. Really, she could be a pain, as well as Sakaki. But, I don't regret our friendship or the times we shared. Hime was so innocent, yet so naive, and Tsumiki could be so quiet and then go off on us when she gets upset. I still have no idea what makes her upset most of the time. Tsumiki, I wonder what she's doing right now."

"They sound like odd, but good friends," Izumi said.

"You shouldn't be saying that," Io said with a sweat drop, as she and her two friends can be a bit odd at times. "How did you meet those other two?"

"Hmm...I forget!" Izumi said as if it was funny, making Io sweat drop even more. "Huh? Who is that in the picture with you? She looks cute!"

Io looked in the direction she was and saw the picture of him and Tsumiki.

"That's Tsumiki," Io clarified to her as she went over and took a look at it. "It was too hard to get a picture with her standing on the ground, so I had to hold her to get her in the picture."

"She's like a cat!" Izumi said with excitement.

"She can seem that way at times," Io said in agreement. "In more ways than one."

The last part he muttered to himself. Once Izumi placed the picture back down, she was going to walk back on the bed, but she slipped and fell face first. Izumi could be very clumsy at times.

"Hey!" Io yelled out as he quickly got off the bed and kneeled down while rolling her over and cupping one of her cheeks.

Izumi opened her eyes after a few seconds, only to blush when she realized Io was holding her with a hand, while the other one was softly against her cheek.

"Are you alright!?" Io asked with concern.

Izumi still hadn't said anything. Rather, her eyes were glazing at his. However, she was able to manage a nod as a reply. This made Io smile.

"Thank goodness," Io said gently. "What's the matter?"

"N-nothing!" Izumi said as she shot up sitting on the floor, and looked away from his gaze while smiling flusteredly and blushing.

Io was not convinced, but he let it go and decided not to press her for it. As Izumi prepared to leave, Io spoke up.

"Do you remember when I was talking about my other friends?" he asked. "I said how I cherished and held so many memories with my other friends? It's true, but never forget, you guys are my friends too. I'll say it again, I'm happy I got to meet you and your friends."

Izumi smiled. "Thank you, Io-kun," Izumi said before quickly kissing his cheek and then running out.

Io was left speechless by what just happened and was holding the spot she kissed, with a hand. He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. He wondered if he caught a cold or something. Regardless, he smiled, Izumi was a very sweet girl.

Meanwhile as Izumi ran, she thought to herself. 'W-why did I do that!?' Izumi thought in embarrassment.

A/N: Normally I would say the trio paying for food for a friend would be off, but given Io has such a charming effect on girls in the show, I can see them do it. I know Izumi kissing Io on the cheek sounds like a stretch, but I think this is one of the few times where it would be the exception for her.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Acchi Kocchi or Hayate No Gotoku.

Part A:

Following the next day, Io still couldn't quite grasp why Izumi had kissed him on the cheek like that. Remembering it made his cheeks turn slightly red. He still tried to reason he was just feeling a cold of sorts.

Once he got his stuff ready, he went to school. There was one very noticable thing to Io, Miki and Risa. Izumi seemed to be behaving rather awkwardly or very shyly, towards Io.

"What, did you take advantage of her in secret?" Risa teased him, before Izumi in a shy fury wacked her on the head.

"Io-kun did nothing of that sort!" Izumi yelled in an embarrassed outburst while blushing.

"But you seem different than normal," Miki noted. "Did something happen between you and Io?"

"Eh!? N-no no no!" Izumi fumbled out while waving her hands defensively.

Miki narrowed her eyes, starting to percieve something. 'Could she...?' Miki thought, only to have a feeling of annoyance when she caught on.

"What's wrong, Izumi?" Io gently asked and put a hand on Izumi's head.

"N-nothing!" Izumi yelled out as she neared a nosebleed.

"And here I thought you were interested in Hayate," Miki mused in jealousy.

"Double-player Izumi," Risa teased her.

"What are you saying!?" Izumi asked, yelling out once more at the two of them while Io remained dense about the matter.

After school, Risa came up with the idea to go to a motel that had a hot spring. The others agreed to it, as it was a good place to relax. So they packed up their stuff and headed there.

"Hmm, this is a tall place," Io commented in surprise. "Is this it?"

"...I think it's the right place," Risa said uncertainly.

"Hand the map over!" Io commanded, fully convinced she hadn't a clue where they were, and sweat dropped. "You held the map upside down!"

Izumi and Miki fell down at Risa's poor directing. With Io's guidance, they finally got there. It was a decently sized place, though it didn't exactly stand out in any way. After paying, they got a room, for they were only staying for a part of the day.

"Eh?" Io wondered as Risa tossed him a pillow.

The trio then, in a split of a second, pulled out three pillows, already in fighting positions.

"It's a pillow fight, Io-kun!" Izumi said with excitement.

"Yes yes, let's get this party started!" Miki said with enthusiasm as she ran towards him.

Io was quick, so he was able to dodge and hit her with his own. She got back up however, and joined in the three-way battle ensuing. One thing was apparent, they were all having a lot of fun. Eventually, it ended. Just then, Io's phone was ringing, catching their attention. Io put the phone on live this time around, and then turned on the recieving call button.

"Yo!" Mayoi said cheery, as she showed up live on his phone screen.

"Mayoi! What's up?" Io asked, happy to see her face.

"That's what I want to know!" Mayoi said pouty. "You haven't called in a while, so we wondered if something happened to you."

"Sorry, I will be sure to call more often then," Io said understandingly.

"That's right, look!" came Hime's innocent voice as she showed up next to Mayoi on the live screen, and appeared to be holding something.

"Hime, isn't that just a Gunp**?" Io asked.

"Not just any!" Mayoi said, getting in her usual cocky mood. "This is a state of the art super transformable robot! Observe!"

With a push of a button, the robot could fly about and even turn into a plane. It could even fire tiny lasers, non-lethal as it is only toy-like. Furthermore, it could even transform into a full size looking robot.

"A-amazing!" the trio said at once.

"Huh? Who are they Io?" Hime asked as she noticed they had been next to Io the whole time.

"These are my new friends, Izumi, Miki, and Risa," Io said.

"Yo!" Risa greeted with a hand up.

"Hey!" Miki greeted friendly.

"Nice to meet you!" Izumi said with bubblyness.

"My my, Io you're quite the chick magnet," Mayoi snickered. "Already have three girls."

This made the three blush. "It's not like that!" the three yelled out, flustered by Mayoi's comment.

"Don't say things that could lead to misunderstandings," Io told Mayoi with a sweat drop. "By the way, where is Tsumiki?"

"Here," Tsumiki said with little emotion as she finally entered the screen.

"She wants to say "Io, I've missed you so"-WACK!

Tsumiki hit Mayoi in the head so hard she fell. Tsumiki also had a vien pop to show she was annoyed. The others sweat dropped at the scene.

"So how have you been doing?" Io asked her.

"I've been fine, but Mayoi still causes a ruckus like usual with her crazy ideas," Tsumiki said, still showing little emotion.

"I see," Io said. "Where's Sakaki?"

"He had stuff to do after school," Tsumiki said.

"Tell him I said hi," Io said, which Tsumiki nodded to.

"Well, I suppose we better leave you four lovebirds alone, bye!" Mayoi teased as she hung up, a big bump on her head was noticable.

For some reason, Io was starting to feel awkward when he looked at Izumi, who noticed his stare and quickly averted his gaze while blushing. The other two had their backs completely turned so he couldn't see their face.

"T-that's right! Why don't we go to the hot spring!" Miki suggested.

"Alright, it could be a good chance to relax as well," Io said before thinking to himself. 'For some reason, I'm starting to feel weird around Izumi again. Did I eat too much or still have a cold?'

In fact, he wondered why he felt like this compared to when Tsumiki kissed his cheek. He didn't get it, but something just felt different.

Once they got to the hotsprings, Io went to the mens section, putting on a towel, while the trio made way to the girls section after putting on some towels.

"Haaaah!" Izumi said in a relaxing manner as she sat in the steaming warm water.

Likewise, the other two had similar reactions.

"Io-kun's friends seem really nice," Izumi said.

"They certainly do," Miki said in agreement. "It's good that he's keeping in touch at least."

"Right, I'm sure they probably really miss him at times," Izumi said, only to notice a perverted look on Miki's face. "What is it?"

"Well...do you wonder if we should peek on Io?" Miki asked.

The other two nosebleed and had to cover their noses. "What are you saying!?" they both asked loudly.

"Think about it, how he would look with just a towel," Miki said as she pointed up at an imaginary cloud for their picture.

This made them go red as a tomato. On the other side, Io had his eyes closed, relaxing in the steaming warm waters.

'Maybe this will cure my cold,' Io thought.

"Now we wait," Miki said as if they were stalking pray, and then took out a camera. "When he gets up, we'll be able to see."

The three were peeking on his side from theirs, but only a part of their face could be seen over the fence. All three were eagerly waiting. But Izumi was a little relunctant about this.

"Should we really do this? What if he wakes up and sees us-" Izumi said.

"Don't worry, details details," Miki said without a care.

Finally, Io started to get up, exciting the three. Suddenly, Io's towel fell completely off. All three nosebleed and made loud flustered sounds. They blushed like mad, fell on the ground and laid unconscious with wide smiles and dizzy shaped eyes. Io heard all the commotion, but had no idea what it was, so he minded his own buisness and put the towel back on.

Part B:

A week later. School was out, and Io watched Hayate eagerly run out with Nagi, or as Hayate called her, "Ojou-sama".

"Geez, he gets so excited that he fails to realize he left his stuff on his desk," Io commented with a sweat drop.

"That's Hayate-kun for you," Miki said as she walked over to him. "Once he gets something in his head, he adandons all other thinking to what it is that he is thinking about."

"Sounds like he's a real handful at times," Io noted.

"Indeed," Miki said in agreement.

"Shall we take this stuff back to him?" Io asked.

"Well, we have nothing better to do, so it's a decent time-waster," Miki said.

"I suppose so," Io said, taking the stuff and leaving, with Miki following him.

Over the last few days, the trio and Io's friends talked to each other more. Miki and Risa were often impressed with Mayoi's inventions and saw eye to eye with her mischievous pranks. Izumi and Hime tended to chat more with each other compared to Miki and Risa. Izumi also found Tsumiki adorable, which embarrassed Tsumiki. Sakaki, like Mayoi, was very prankster-like, and although they got along generally, Sakaki's perverted comments at times embarrassed them, which made them scold him. But at the moment they all seemed busy, so they didn't have time to talk for now.

As they headed for Sanzenin Mansion, Miki recalled what happened a few days ago.

Flash back:

They were hanging out like usual. This time, they were outside playing baseball. Io hit the ball with no problem and ran the bases all the way back to home straight. Naturally, he was congratulated by the trio and others for earning them a point. But when Izumi's turn was next, the person threw the ball with so much force that Izumi not only missed, but the ball hit her right in the leg.

"Hey!" Io yelled and quickly ran to her side. "Can you get up?"

"I think so-ouch!" Izumi crinched in pain, for she was unable to stand properly at the moment due to the pain in her leg.

"Don't worry, I'll take you to the nurse's office," Io said very gently, and then put one of her arms around him, helped her up, and then he slowly walked with her to the nurse's office.

Miki became slightly saddened by the sight. She already was aware that Izumi liked him. But she also wondered if perhaps Io himself may like her.

End of flash back.

After all, he did seem to be growing closer with Izumi in particular over the days. She noted how he seemed to spend more time with her, and show even more concern for her than normal. Of course Io was always a very considerant person, but he seemed to deeply care in particular for Izumi as of late. Perhaps it was a sibling type of affection or just close friendship, but Miki just couldn't quite figure out wether or not Io held feelings for Izumi. And it didn't help that in a few instances, he appeared to actually be blushing, albeit he kept himself in complete control. Miki herself had already embraced her feelings for Io some days ago, but she wasn't quite sure how to deal with this. She liked Io, but she knew at the same time how Izumi feels about him. Such a frusterating situation: try to win his heart, or support Izumi's feelings for him. Granted, Miki liked another person as well, but she also found herself attracted to Io. Miki knew all along that she had no chance with this other person, though she at least tried here and there to win their affection, but it fell flat each time. But with Io now in the picture, she wondered if it was really worth bothering to go after the other person anymore, as well as knowing full well that said person likes someone else on top of that. She recalled one time telling Hayate how the person she liked wouldn't return her feelings, but, unlike then, nothing has been set in stone with Io yet, as he appears yet to be in love with anyone to her knowledge.

"You've been really quiet, are you alright?" Io asked in concern. "More than that, you seem spaced out somehow."

"Huh? Y-yeah, I'm fine," Miki stuttered and looked ahead.

"If you say so," Io said, letting the matter drop.

Eventually, they came to the Mansion, and once the gate appeared, they walked through the garden, and were then let inside after knocking.

"Here," Io said as he handed the stuff over to Hayate. "You were so pumped up that you left all your stuff on that table of yours."

"Ah, is that so?" Hayate laughed nervously, rubbing his own hair with a hand.

"Really Hayate, what are we going to do with you?" Nagi said exasperately.

"Um, is that Maria?" Io asked, pointing behind Hayate and Nagi.

"What do you think of this outfit?" Maria asked.

The room went silent. But then Hayate spoke up.

"Hmm, I don't think it's all that great," Hayate casually said with an innocent smile.

"That's right into a landmine!" Io, Miki and Nagi said at the same time in panic.

Maria, comically glowing with rage, wacked Hayate so hard he flew right out of the top of the wall and into the outside way high up, and then seconds later fell right back through and onto the floor in front of them with a loud crash.

"You don't understand the way of girls do you?" Io asked. "You're also too tactless. What girl wants to be told what they wear is terrible? Look, I'll show you how to treat a girl."

After the suggestion, Io turned to Miki and put a hand on her cheek. "Miki, you have a beautiful smile," Io said in a soft romance-like voice.

The result, Miki fainted in an enormous nosebleed while blushing.

"Oh my," Maria said, blushing and holding one of her cheeks with her hands.

"Knockout punch!" Nagi yelled out.

"...This isn't a game," Hayate said, getting up.

After Io and Miki left, just before they got to Io's place, Miki suddenly rested her head against his shoulder.

"Miki?" Io wondered as he looked at the girl.

"Could, could I stay like this for just a little bit?" Miki asked in a shy voice.

"If you want to," Io said, though not sure of why she wanted to do that all of a sudden.

Miki also put an arm around his as she did, and smiled with her eyes closed.

"So this is what you were doing," came Risa's voice, forcing Miki to let go of Io in a panic.

Before them, Risa had a camera in her hands.

"R-Risa, when did you-"

"I wondered where you two went, but I didn't think you two were so close," Risa said, with some jealousy in her voice.

"I-It's not like that, believe me!" said Miki, who was increasingly panicking.

"Too late! I'm going to spread this all over school!" Risa said, although not actually meaning the last part and running off.

"Where do you think you're going!? Get back here!" Miki yelled in worry as she took off after her at lightning speed.

Io, who had his mouth open at the scene that just unfolded, spoke.

"What was that all about?" Io asked, blinking a few times in confusion.

Later, Io was at his place, bored. At this moment Izumi's face appears in his head, like it has many times already.

"Why do I keep thinking about her?" Io said out loud to himself.

He was becoming increasingly restless the more he tried to understand what was going on.

Elsewhere, the trio were called by Hinagiku into her office.

"What did we do now?" Miki groaned, feeling they were in trouble again.

Hinagiku was very afraid to tell them. Hinagiku at first thought they knew, but they seemed too happy all the time with him that it made Hinagiku finally determine that they didn't know. Closing her eyes to calm down, Hinagiku spoke to them about it. Once the words left her mouth, the trio widened their eyes in utter shock.

"Io-kun...won't be here for much longer?" Izumi slowly asked, as if she was trying to deny what was just said.

"That's a lie!" Miki outbursted, so upset that she intensely slammed both her hands on the desk in front of Hinagiku, who was legitimately shocked by Miki's powerful outburst.

"That's right, he can't be...!" Risa said enraged, believing this was a cruel prank by Hinagiku.

"I know it's hard to take in, but it is the truth," Hinagiku said to the three with sadness, knowing how much they care for him.

The trio could say nothing back but look down in sorrow.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Acchi Kocchi or Hayate No Gotoku.

Part A:

The next day. The trio found it hard to get out of their bed, but they managed. Once they all met, they walked together in silence, a very depressing air about them.

Flash back:

Miki took her hands off the table and spoke up again, this time more calmly.

"Why, why didn't he tell us about it?" Miki asked in a hurt voice.

"Perhaps, he didn't want you guys to be sad, and wanted you guys to be as happy as possible for as long as you could," Hinagiku mused. "That guy, he's really kind after all."

End of flash back.

Even knowing that, it didn't lift their mood in even the least. As sad as Miki was, she was more worried about Izumi. Among the three, she had the most reason to be emotionally depressed. As she was the closest one with Io, Miki could only imagine that Izumi has it even worse than her or Risa.

Elsewhere, Io was packing his things and preparing to leave. He had a frustrating sleep to say the least, and wiped the sweat off his head. After that, he headed out. When he thought of it, it even felt almost painful when Izumi wasn't around. After arriving to his class, he sat down in his chair.

"Huh? What's wrong, Izumi?" Io asked with concern upon seeing the sad look on her face.

Izumi didn't reply. Before Io could press the issue, class started. Yukiji noticed something odd. That being the trio. Normally she would expect them to sometimes not pay attention, but something seemed too different. Whenever she told them to pay attention, they didn't respond or so much as even look at her. In fact, they seemed to have a very depressing air about them. Nagi and Hayate just thought they got in trouble and were moping it up. When class ended, Yukiji walked over and sighed.

"Alright you three, what's going on? Even you aren't normally like this," Yukiji noted, and was getting worried.

"That's what I want to know," Io commented.

"Io-kun, won't be here for much longer," Miki said quietly.

Io gasped, as if realizing something. "You-"

"Hinagiku told us that you were only going to be here for a month, and then go back to your other school," Miki said, the normal enthusiasm gone.

"I'm sorry, it would seem they didn't know about it," Io mused. "I figured Hinagiku told them long ago, but I was wrong. In any case, I was only going to be here temporarily, so I just assumed you guys already knew."

"When I saw how much you guys liked being around Io, I couldn't bring myself to tell you guys the truth," Yukiji clarified to them nervously. "I wanted you to be happy for as long as possible and not be worrying about him leaving the whole time."

"How could we not worry!?" Izumi outbursted, who sounded on the verge of crying, and had a very sad look on her face. "Do you really think we'd feel any less upset if you told us earlier!?"

"...Izumi," Miki said in sympathy.

"You're right," Yukiji said, acknowledging her own mistake.

"I guess I better explain to you guys the real reason I got transferred in the first place," Io said.

So he spilled the whole story of why he was transferred here.

"You only got here because of Mayoi's prank!?" Risa asked in surprise.

"Yes," Io said. "But you know, perhaps I should thank her for it."

That recieved questioning looks from the trio.

"If Mayoi hadn't pulled that prank, I would have possibly never met you guys," Io said compassionately. "To me, that prank turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Because of that prank, I made new friends."

The trio were so touched that they couldn't get out any words. The next thing Io knew, the trio had all hugged him. Io smiled and embraced them back. Yukiji smiled at the sight. Normally, this is where she would punish the trio for their slacking in class, but Yukiji turned a blind eye this time, understanding why they were so unfocused this time.

After cheering them up, they all left and ate. Io and Izumi, as usual talked to and hung close to each other the most. Aika, who had observed them a few times, was able to percieve Izumi's feelings for Io, and was watching them. It was quite entertaining to see Miki and Risa have jealous reactions. However, Aika could accurately deduce that Io was already out of both Miki and Risa's reach. After a bit, Io got up and left after saying he wanted to be alone. Aika noted he seemed stressed somehow, so she followed and then approached him once he sat under a tree. A bunch of cats also started gathering around them.

"Is something the matter?" Aika asked.

Her voice surprised him as he looked up at her.

"Aika," Io said, but looked down and sighed. "I don't understand what's wrong with me."

"By any chance, does it have to do with Izumi?" Aika asked him, which his surprised reaction confirmed it. "Tell me, what is it that you feel around her?"

Io relaxed, and started. "Well, I've been feeling strange around her for a while now," Io admitted. "Whenever I feel bored or am just by myself at times, her face will appear in my head. What's more, sometimes my cheeks feel hot whenever I'm around her, and even my heart thumps some times."

Aika by now knew what it was, but tried to approach it accordingly. "Io-kun, imagine that some guy asked her out and she accepted it," Aika said. "How does it make you feel that she's with this person?"

Io did as she said and imagined it. "I don't like it," Io told her bluntly. "And it makes me feel in pain."

Aika smiled. Such an honest boy.

"Io-kun, even though it is my guess," Aika started to try and conceive it as a simple guess, even though she already knew. "Could it be that you're in love with her?"

"Love, huh," Io said, even though he was blushing now. "Could I?"

Aika giggled. "I think anyone would now be able to figure it out if they were here with us," Aika said. "Your words and face say it all."

"I guess you're right," Io said, seeing her point. "But, where do I go from here? I've never been in love before."

"That's for you to decide," Aika told him. "But if I can suggest one thing. Girls don't like random confessions. It could be overwhelming and push them away."

With that, Aika walked away to leave Io to his thoughts. He wasn't sure how Izumi felt about him, so he reasoned it would probably be best to keep his feelings to himself for now.

"Love Master is at her work again?" Chiharu asked, walking up to Aika. "It seems your advice really gave him a push."

"I only gave a helping hand, the rest depends on him," Aika pointed out.

"He is pretty popular among girls of this school," Chiharu said. "But I can see why. He's very gentle, considerant of the feelings of others, and he's quite cute."

"'Cute' you just said?" Aika said in an amused tone.

Chiharu blushed up a storm upon realizing she just carelessly said that out loud.

"Y-you're not going to write this in your book of secrets are you!?" Chiharu asked in panic.

"Of course I will," Aika said in an evil voice.

This caused Chiharu to pale.

"You haven't talked to him yet have you?" Aika asked her. "Or are you hoping he would do this and that to you, things which we can't show on TV?"

Chiharu recklessly let her imagination run wild, and was smiling at the ideas, only to blush like a tomato when she realized she yet again just gave Aika more knowledge.

"Darn ittttt!" Chiharu yelled in embarrassment as she ran as fast as lightning.

Part B:

Io was out and about in the city, doing some shopping since he was running low on some food. Suddenly, out of the blue, he was hit in the face with a a metal bracelet. The force was so strong it sent him flying onto the ground.

"Io-kun! Hang on!" came a familiar voice.

As Io got up, he was holding his forhead and cringing from the pain.

"Are you alright!?" the girl asked as she helped him up.

"Y-yeah," Io said, taking his hand off his forhead. "You're from back then. Sakuya was it?"

"Correct!" Sakuya proudly proclaimed.

"What were you doing throwing that?" Io asked her.

"Heh heh, well...," Sakuya started nervously. "The truth is, I made Isumi really angry. And in a fit of rage she tried to hit me with that bracelet, but I ducked, and well, you know the rest."

"I see," Io said. "Where is she by the way-"

"Sakuya!" came Isumi's angry voice, making Sakuya hide behind Io.

"You calm her down!" Sakuya said exaggeratingly.

"Me!? What do you expect me to say!?" Io asked.

As Isumi ran towards her in a fury, she stopped upon recognizing the boy.

"Io-kun," Isumi said, loosing her anger.

"I don't know what happened, but calm down, okay?" Io said, putting a hand on her head.

"Alright," Isumi pouted, beckoning Sakuya she didn't need to hide anymore.

With that out of the way, they made way to Sakuya's place.

"Welcome back, Sakuya-san!" a female voice said.

Io, on seeing this maid, narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

'This girl, I know I've seen her before,' Io thought, and then it clicked as he put a hand to his glasses. "Hello, Chiharu."

"How did you even know my name!? We've never met!" Chiharu said, in great surprise.

"It's true we haven't met," Io admitted. "But, I have overheard Aika call you Chiharu before. I've also seen you at school many times with her, so I could see through that disguise of yours."

"Smart and cute," Chiharu said, before quickly correcting what she recklessly blurted. "N-no I mean just smart!"

"I got it," Io calmly said.

Sakuya felt somewhat awkward at the scene so she changed the subject.

"Anyway, this is my home Io-kun," Sakuya said.

Once they got settled, they sat down and had some tea.

"So how have you been doing here?" asked Sakuya.

"It was rough at first, but I'm situated now," Io said before drinking some more tea.

"I see, that's good," said Chiharu, before spitting out the tea in her mouth when Isumi got very close to Io. "H-hey!"

"Hold still, you have just a bit on your cheek," Isumi said, taking a napkin and wiping it off his cheek.

'Dang that Isumi!' Chiharu thought as she clinched a fist, and had a vein pop. 'Naively bold!'

"Are you okay, Haru-san?" Sakuya asked.

"Yeah, fine fine!" Chiharu said in a casually annoyed voice and looked away.

That just left Sakuya confused. Later, the power went off.

"A power outage?" Io wondered.

"Most likely," Chiharu mused.

"Now what are we going to do?" Sakuya wondered.

"Tell scary stories," Isumi said in a sudden chilling voice.

"Please don't!" all three said to her.

"I'll go see if I can get the power back on," Io said, getting up.

"I'll come with you," Chiharu offered, getting up and following him.

"Okay, but stay close," Io said.

They traversed the dark. Although it wasn't so dark that they could see nothing, they still needed to be careful and not trip on something. But Chiharu wasn't paying enough attention and fell, but Io caught her just in time.

"That was close, you alright?" Io asked.

"Y-yeah," Chiharu said slowly while blushing. 'Control yourself! But, I'm so close to his lips. What if I-no, calm down!'

Io then sat her gently down and they continued their way to the generator. Finally, they arrived.

"Hmm, let's see...," Io said as he first turned the thing off, and then turned it back on to see if emergency power still works. "It's a no go-it's on now!"

The power was restored, returning the lights that got cut off, back on. Just then, Sakuya's yell could be heard.

"That was Sakuya!" Io said in realization. "Let's move!"

They quickly went back, only to see that Sakuya spilled her tea on herself, which was still greatly hot. Isumi was tending to her.

That made Io and Chiharu both gain a sense of relief that it was nothing too dangerous. Io now noticed something. Behind where Isumi was sitting before, was a cut plug. And if it was a main power cord...

"Don't tell me..." Io deduced. "Did you accidently kick the plug off earlier while we were speaking?"

"I did," Isumi said as if it was nothing.

Io and Chiharu fell down. "Tell us that sooner!" they both yelled at her.

Isumi, ignorant, simply had a question mark above her head.

A/N: I figured chances of him meeting Sakuya even occasionally, is slim. I mean it's a given that he hangs out most with the trio. So he wouldn't really visit Nagi's place that often. Not to mention it's not like he has much reason to go there, besides handing something or delivering something, or Nagi wants him over. Even then, what are the chances he'll meet Sakuya there the few times he does go? Sure probably Isumi, but Sakuya, hard to say.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Acchi Kocchi or Hayate No Gotoku.

Part A:

The following day. Io was reading a book near a tree at the school. As usual, cats gathered all around him. This made some of the girls giggle at the cute sight. However he occasionally petted the cats, who purred in satisfaction.

"This is one of your favorite spots, huh?" asked Hinagiku, walking over and sitting next to him. "Or are you feeling down without Izumi?"

Hinagiku was only teasing him. Like Miki she could see their closeness. But what happened next surprised her. Io's cheeks went red, and he looked away from her.

"Eh!? Io-kun!?" Hinagiku said in much surprise. "You're actually blushing from that!?"

It was a rare sight to see him blush like this.

"Of course I would if someone started teasing me about the person I love," Io bluntly said.

It took Hinagiku a few seconds to process what he just said.

"Eh, Eh!? You like Izumi-san!?" Hinagiku said with even more surprise than before.

"I do," Io said, being honest.

'Shoot! He's completely honest with his feelings, while I never can confess to Hayate!' Hinagiku thought. 'Why can't I be like that? It's like I'm losing!'

"In any case, even though I like her, I won't confess," Io said.

"Why not?" Hinagiku asked, curious.

"It's simple, I don't know how she feels about me," Io clarified. "As such, if I confess without knowing how she feels, I would just make things awkward between us, and I may even push her away if I confess too randomly. Her happiness is more important to me than my personal feelings. W-what!?"

Hinagiku stared at him with envy and a somewhat dreamy expression. This guy was just so nice and caring for others. When she realized what she was doing she composed herself.

"Well, I can't say I can give advice," Hinagiku said. "I can't even confess to the person I love."

"You mean Hayate?" Io asked, having figured it out with how overly obvious she is with her feelings for him.

"W-wait-"

"That guy is really dense," Io said. "He's thoughtless, insensitive to others at times, can be an idiot, lacking proper tac, as well as too rash. But I think you picked a good guy. At heart he's really pretty nice, he just needs to work on some areas."

"Can't say I don't agree," Hinagiku said, annoyed herself by all those things of him, and then got up. "I'll be cheering you on, Io-kun."

"Thank you," Io said while smiling.

Hinagiku then left as Io looked up at the sky. Later when he got to class, Izumi called out to him.

"Morning, Io-kun," Izumi greeted him.

"Morning, Izumi," Io said, walking up to her.

"After school, do you have any plans?" she asked.

"I don't have any," Io said. "Why?"

"Do you want to walk around town with me, and maybe go shopping or sit at the park?" Izumi asked in her bubbly voice.

"Sure, that sounds fine," Io said in agreement.

Miki and Risa heard this, and had vein pops of annoyance. This made Io and Izumi confused to their two friends annoyance. Once school was over, Io and Izumi grabbed their things and left together. Meanwhile, Risa and Miki were tailing them out of sight.

Coming across a clothing store, they went in. Izumi appeared to want some clothes, so Io simply walked by her, and waited whenever she wanted to try something on.

"Are they on a date?" Risa whispered to Miki, annoyance in her voice.

"Not sure," Miki said. 'But it wouldn't surprise me!'

"Excuse me, waiting on your girlfriend?" one of the people in charge asked him.

Io blushed from that, but kept himself in control. "She, she's not my girlfriend!" Io told her. 'Wish she was however.'

"Really?" she asked.

Io's reaction caught Miki's interest, wheras Izumi blushed greatly, having heard what the person talking to Io said.

Io and Izumi then left, and bought some ice cream. After this, they went to a bench and sat down.

"Yummy!" Izumi said with enthuse as she licked the ice cream that was on the cone.

Io licked his as well. But tried to be careful, as too much at once would be too cold, or cause a brain freeze. A Wasp then approached Izumi, though it really was just attracted to the food.

Izumi freaked out and was swatting at it. "Haaaaa!" Io yelled out as he landed a swift karate style chop dead on on the Wasp, making it fall to the ground. "You could have been stung. It's dangerous to swat at them you know. I'm lucky I didn't get stung doing that myself."

"Aheh," Izumi said as she rubbed her head with her hand.

'A-amazing!' both Miki and Risa thought, having seen the whole thing.

When they finished, they tried their hand at winning a prize.

"Here I go!" Izumi said as she put in a coin and tried to get a teddy bear with the crane, but failed.

"Let me have a go," Io said while she moved aside.

Putting in a coin, he operated the crane with the controls, and with careful movement, got the teddy bear.

"Here," Io said, presenting it to her.

"You don't want it?" Izumi asked to which he shook his head.

"I wanted to get it for you," Io said in generosity.

Izumi blushed. "Thank you, Io-kun," Izumi said to which he smiled at her.

At the same time, Risa and Miki watched in jealousy.

'Darn them! They're both so bold!' Miki thought.

Later on, they prepared to go their seperate ways.

"I had a lot of fun, Io-kun," Izumi said.

"So did I," Io said gently.

A few moments passed with the two merely staring into each others eyes. They both then said goodbye and walked to their respective places.

As Miki observed, she was now convinced that Io liked Izumi. She could see it in his eyes.

'It's funny, I should be a lot sadder than this,' Miki thought. 'But, I already had a hunch he might have liked her anyway. Guess it's not as shocking. Even though I say this...'

Miki's lips moved rapidly, as a tear went down her face.

Part B:

The day had finally arrived. And Io was in all honesty dreading this. He had made new friends, and it was painful to have to go. It was particularly upsetting that he had to leave without Izumi. He wished he could take her with him, but he fought out such selfish thoughts. He knew they would still be in touch and call, and he could always visit on the weekends, so it was all good. But at the same time, he was happy to finally be able to go back to his old friends. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Upon opening the door, it was the trio. As they walked towards school, they were all quiet, and for good reason. It was stressful for all four of them. They made so many memories.

Io could recall many times where he was dragged around by the three, and lead into some wacky events. Or even just hanging out and chilling. Good times. It's true he will still visit on weekends, but he's going to miss being with them at school and all the stuff that happened while they were there. When they arrived at school, Hinagiku approached the trio.

"There you are," Hinagiku said to the trio. "I've an assignment for you three."

"Um," Izumi started, catching Hinagiku's attention. "Can, you give it to someone else this time?"

Immediately it hit Hinagiku. 'That's right...this will be his last day here,' Hinagiku thought. "Alright, just this once. Don't be late to class!"

She then walked off.

"That girl," Io said, realizing she let them off due to the fact he's leaving today. 'She may not show it, but she cares more for them than she let's on.'

He then took out his phone. "Can you three give me your phone numbers so we can stay in touch?" Io asked them.

They gave him the numbers, and after inputting them, he saved them onto the phone. As they walked through the school building, many memories flooded Io. He remembered how at one point, Miki pranked him into opening a room filled with books. Another was them playing double team in baseball.

Arriving in class, they made way to their seats.

"Quiet down everyone!" Yukiji commanded. "After today, Io won't be here anymore. He will be sent back to his old school."

"Ehhhhh!" most of the girls yelled.

"He won't be here anymore?" Nagi asked in surprise.

"Is that true?" Hayate asked in surprise as well.

"That's right," Yukiji said.

'She's not making this any easier!' Io thought with a sweat drop.

The trio had sad looks, even knowing this was going to happen. Miki glanced at Izumi, worried the most about her.

Following the end of school, Io packed up his stuff, and headed home with the trio. When he got there, he started to pack up, the trio helping him out. Although the trio were still quiet, Io knew it was understandable. It was hard enough for him to say much without sounding down.

"Yes, that should be all of it," Io said.

Just then, a car honked outside.

"It's almost time," the driver said.

"Understood," Io said as he and the others went outside in front of the van.

"Io...visit us, you hear!" Miki got out, albeit tearfully.

"Yes yes!" Risa said, as she had tears as well.

"I promise," Io said, and then turned his attention to Izumi.

Miki and Risa stepped back, giving them a moment alone. As much as it pained them, they had both realized they didn't have a chance with Io.

"You, you're really leaving, right?" Izumi asked quietly.

"Yeah," Io said, for once showing some sadness in his voice.

Izumi looked down with a sad look. To her surprise, and Risa and Miki's, Io approached and hugged her.

"I-Io-kun?" Izumi said, flustered by the action and blushing.

"Thank you for everything," Io said very softly. "The days I spent with you were truly fun, Izumi."

Izumi teared up from that, touched by the statement and hugged him back as the wind blew. He could recall so many moments they shared together, irreplacable moments. Once they let go, Io made way for the van.

"Io-kun!" Izumi called out.

Before Io could react, to his surprise and the others, Izumi placed a kiss on his cheek. Io in turn blushed, smiled and then got in the van. As the engine reved up, Io waved at them, and they, in turn, waved back. The van then speed forward.

'Miki, Risa...and Izumi, we'll meet again,' Io thought as the van pressed forward.

"Izumi," Miki said, walking up to her. "Are you okay with this, him going?"

"Mmm," Izumi said, nodding. "Because I know we'll meet again. Besides, Io-kun can always come on the weekends, or we can visit him on the weekends."

"You're right," Miki said in agreement, as they all looked up at the sky. 'But, Izumi, have you realized your own feelings for him?'

Later the next day, Io finally made it back to his home. Already there were his friends, awaiting his return, for he had messaged them earlier in the day.

"Everyone!" Io called out, as they all ran forward and hugged him.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Acchi Kocchi or Hayate No Gotoku.

Part A:

Io yawned as he woke up and stretched his arms. Yesterday, a day after he had left and finally got home, Izumi and her friends called him, to make sure if he got back home safely, to which he showed he indeed did. After getting ready, he went to his usual destination. That being a spot that Tsumiki has a tendency to wait for him at. Indeed, Tsumiki was there.

"Morning, Tsumiki," Io said in his gentle voice.

"Morning," Tsumiki said as her ears made a cat shape due to her being excited to see him here in the morning again.

Like usual, they walked mostly in silence. However, unlike other times, Io carried what one could guess, a depressing air. Tsumiki was too glad to be walking with him like this again to notice.

"Tsumiki-san, Io-kun!" Hime called out in front of them.

"Hime," Io said as he walked up to her. "Where's Mayoi?"

"Here!" Mayoi popped up next to Hime. "Hime-chi should be more careful. Unguarded, and the thief will sneak up behind you, take out his sharpened blade and-"

Hime kneeled down and covered her head in terror. Io and Tsumiki sweat dropped. Io smiled, some things just don't change after all. It felt classic to see this kind of scene again with them.

"Hey!" Sakaki greeted them.

"Morning, Sakaki-san," Mayoi greeted, as did Hime.

Mayoi then whispered in Tsumiki's ear, but was loud enough to be heard by the others. "Aren't you so happy to be walking together again?" Mayoi asked with a grin.

"Nyaa!" Tsumiki said, blushing greatly from that.

"He he, you just couldn't wait to be next to Io again could you," Sakaki teased.

Tsumiki started to lose balance, but her face landed on Io's body. That only made her nosebleed and faint. Hime, finding the scene cute nosebleed as well.

As they walked to school, Mayoi turned turned to Io. "Um...sorry!" Mayoi yelled out, feeling bad about what she did and suddendly grabbed his jacket, as tears fell from her eyes. "I'll never do a prank like that again!"

Io patted her head. "I should be the one thanking you," Io said, making everyone go "Eh!". "It was because of that prank that I got to meet new people and make new friends...and discover even more. Well, we've wasted enough time, let's make haste."

The last part Io quickly said and walked at a bit faster pace.

"Strange, what was that about?" Mayoi asked to the others in curiousity.

"Don't know," Tsumiki said, puzzled by his evasiveness on the last part.

"Hmm," Sakaki pondered as he put a finger to his chin in thought.

"Maybe he lost a toy!" Hime suggested.

"No way!" the other three said with a sweat drop, knowing that wouldn't be it.

When they got to school, and went to the classroom, he was noticed by one of his classmates.

"Isn't that!?" a girl said, pointing at him, and then the rest followed suite with the next word. "Io-kun!"

In swift speed, they all hugged him to the ground, all talking at once in excitement.

"H-hey, you guys!" Io said, struggling against their grasp.

Tsumiki begun glowing comically in jealousy, but Mayoi put a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, they're just really glad he's back," Mayoi said, which in turn calmed Tsumiki down.

"Shoot! I could have had the chance to be popular if he was gone still!" Sakaki said in panic.

"I don't think you would have even if you tried," Mayoi said with a sweat drop.

Hime laughed nervously at Sakaki. "But, I'm happy he's back," Hime said. "Without him, it didn't feel the same anymore."

Tsumiki looked at Mayoi with a "See what you did" face. "Come now, you heard what Io-san said, he actually thought it was good it happened," Mayoi pointed out, staying positive.

Normally, Tsumiki would get annoyed at her excuses, but she had a point this time, so she simply walked away. Or perhaps Io being back gave her a sense of lenient. When class started, everybody took their seats. Being they are in different classes, Sakaki left.

"Before we begin, you will all be happy to know that Io is back with us after the long month transfer," Kikue said, happiness clear in her voice as she clasped her hands together.

Everyone clapped in excitement at that. Class went on like normal. Io felt a sense of relaxation, finding it nostalgic to be back in this class. During lunch break, Mayoi presented yet another of her famous contraptions.

"Jaaaaaa!" Mayoi declared with dramatic flare.

"What is that!?" Hime asked.

"The disk launcher! But not just any launcher!" Mayoi declared with a finger in the air. "With a push of a button, this disk can fly at the speed of light!"

"Sounds dangerous," Io said.

"What are you saying? It's full proof!" Mayoi said with confidence, and tried to push the button, but the disk wouldn't launch. "Fly fly!"

"Yo!" Sakaki called out as he walked in the room, only to be hit in the stomach with so much force, that he went flying out of the room, and into the wall so hard the wall actually cracked. "...Good job!"

With those words, he went unconscious as everyone sweat dropped.

"Strong," Io commented.

"It was pretty fast," Tsumiki said with little emotion.

"Be more worried!" Hime said to them.

After school, they briefly walked together.

"Thanks for taking care of Tsumiki," Io said to Mayoi.

"Heh heh, you should have seen it Io," Mayoi said with a finger in the air. "She was so depressed without her Io-"

BANG!

Tsumiki sent her flying into the wall near them.

"Tsumiki," Io called out.

"Nyaa!" Tsumiki said, wishing she stopped Mayoi sooner.

"Were you really that sad I wasn't here?" Io asked.

"I-It's not like I was sad," Tsumiki said before Io put a hand on her head.

"Thank you," Io said in his gentle voice.

Tsumiki flinched when she saw Sakaki, and a recovered Mayoi smirking at her. Hime nosebleed from the sight.

Part B:

With Io back, everyone went cooking something at the Hotch Potch shop. Io was currently in the midst of cutting the vegetables. But as he did, he seemed to space out somewhat, or rather he looked down.

"Io!" Sakaki called out. "You doing okay?"

"Y-yeah!" Io quickly said. "I think."

Sakaki narrowed his eyes. He was positive something was going on that Io wasn't saying. Sighing, Sakaki got up and grabbed Io.

"One of you take over for a minute, we'll be back," Sakaki said, pulling Io along.

They took a step outside and closed the door. Unknown to them, the others had their ears to the door.

"What's going on?" Sakaki bluntly asked him. "You've seemed down since you came back."

"Have I?" Io asked.

"So, what is it that's troubling you?" asked Sakaki, folding his arms.

"That's..." Io started and looked up to the sky. "When you leave friends, it tends to make you feel down. But that's only part of why I feel this way. There's a girl there, that I love."

He was honest about it. Sakaki had to take a moment to process Io's words.

"EHHHHH!" everyone on the other side of the door yelled out and ran out to them.

"My, this is a surprise," Miiko said, coming with them.

"Did you know they were there!?" Io asked Sakaki with a sweat drop.

"I didn't!" Sakaki said, offended by the accusation.

"Don't you guys understand what a private conversation is!?" Io asked in a somewhat panic.

"Sorry, but we couldn't resist," Mayoi admitted. "Anyway, is that true!? You fell in love!?"

"I did," Io said, seeing no more reason to hide it.

"Hey, what's she like?" Hime asked with interest.

"You already know her, Izumi," Io said.

"Oh, that girl?" Mayoi said in realization with an imaginary cloud showing her. "I never would have guessed Io-san would fall in love."

"What makes you say that? Sometimes, love can happen when you least expect it," Io said. "In any case, that's the reason I feel down for the most part. Even now...I feel pain inside."

Mayoi looked towards the door, knowing Tsumiki hadn't come out due to the shock. Mayoi only said Io being in love was a shock, because she thought Io would eventually grow to like Tsumiki. But it seems that's crushed, and Tsumiki's heart as well.

'...Izumi,' Io thought as he looked into the sky. "I'm not entirely sad. I know we can see each other on the weekends and chat on our phones too. However, I'm going to miss the times we spent in school together, along with Risa and Miki."

"Io," Hime uttered, feeling sympathy for him.

"Hooo, listen to you," Sakaki said with a grin. "You falling in love and realizing it, and here I thought you were dense."

"Well, I had help," Io admitted. "I didn't realize it for a while. But Aika helped me to understand it."

"Hey hey! How did you fall in love with her?" Hime asked, thrilled by this.

As they talked more, Mayoi sneaked back in. Seeing Tsumiki sitting against the wall with a depressing aura on her, Mayoi approached her. Sitting next to her, Mayoi spoke up.

"Aren't you jealous that he loves someone?" Mayoi started in an attempt to get Tsumiki to get angry to make her come out of the sadness, with Tsumiki not even trying to retort her this time. "I get it, you really liked him. I-I'm not the best at this, but I feel like I took him away from you with that prank. He may not have fallen in love had it not been for that."

However, Mayoi panicked upon seeing Tsumiki almost begin to cry.

'Shoot, I'm making her feel worse!' Mayoi thought. "Um, cheer up! Be happy for him."

That managed to make her smile a little. When she thought about it, Io's happiness always ment more to her than her personal feelings. If he really loved this person, could she not feel happy even if she feels hurt inside that it's not her?

"Yeah, that's right," Tsumiki said, wiping some tears out of her eyes, and then walked out with Mayoi following suite. "Congratulations, Io."

"I hope you can make this Izumi very happy," Miiko said in sincerity.

"We're not a couple," Io said, though that made Tsumiki relieved inside. "But I wish we were. I don't know how Izumi feels, and I don't want to push her. Driving her away is the last thing I want to do."

That gained admiration looks from the girls. Still as considerant as ever. Mayoi gained a sense of terror when Io now grabbed her with an intense comical glow and glare.

"Don't go blurting this stuff out to Izumi, do I make myself clear?" Io said in a voice that made it clear he was not playing around.

"I got it I got it!" Mayoi yelled in fear.

"Scary!" the other girls and Sakaki yelled out, besides Miiko who simply smiled with her eyes closed.

Afterwards, they all went back inside and carried on with the cooking. When it was finished, they all sat down at the tables, besides Io, who was making some water for everyone.

"Thanks for the meal!" they all said, and dug in.

"Ahhhhh! This is like taking a stroll through bliss!" Sakaki uttered as he ate and let his imagination run wild.

Tsumiki and the others were then given water by Io. Just then, Io's eyes widened at what Mayoi was about to eat on her food. It looked like a normal ketchup, but it seemed like one of those hot sauce bottles.

"Wait, that's-" Io tried to say but Mayoi ate it.

Everyone stared at Mayoi in amazement.

"That hit the spot," Mayoi said.

"U-u-u-um, you ate," Hime started.

"Hot sauce!" everyone said at the same time.

"What are you saying?" Mayoi started, but just then her face went red from the hotness. "Yaaaaaaaaaaa! Water, water!"

Io quickly handed her one of the water cups. In a flash, she started chugging it all down, and then slammed it on the table while breathing heavily and leaning back in her chair.

"Watch what you eat," Tsumiki said calmly.

Mayoi could still feel the heat in her mouth, as the others sweat dropped.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Acchi Kocchi or Hayate No Gotoku.

Part A:

It was Saturday, and Io was at his house relaxing. Throughout the week, he kept in touch with the trio, which kept him from feeling too down. Talking to Izumi in particular would bring his spirits back up. Sakaki and Mayoi would try to tease him in front of her, but Io silenced them when they started getting out of hand, or Tsumiki would get irritated enough to hit them herself. Actually, he was called a bit earlier by Sakaki and his friends wanting to hang out, so he prepared to leave. Just as he was going to, someone knocked on his door. Opening the door, he was surprised and felt a strong sense of excitement. In front of him was Izumi, Nagi, Hayate, Maria and Chiharu.

"Izumi! You guys!" Io said in surprise.

"Surprised?" Nagi asked with a sense of cocky pride.

"We came by plane, so that's how we arrived so quickly," Maria said. "It was Nagi's idea."

"H-hey!" Nagi said with embarrassment.

"I see," Io said, turning his attention to Izumi, smiling. "It's good to see you again, Izumi."

That earned a blush from Izumi. A bit of silence hung over the two as they smiled at each other. Io broke it though, feeling awkward inside.

"Where's Miki and Risa?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, Hina-chan is afraid of heights, so they're coming by a car," Izumi explained.

Io recalled having seen Hinagiku freak out before in regards to heights.

"Well, I was about to head out to my friends, do you guys want to come along?" Io asked them.

"Of course!" Izumi said in her bubbly voice, the others also agreeing.

So they headed out. Nagi had a hunch that the two liked each other. They certainly seemed pretty close. Maria was beginning to think along the lines of Nagi as well.

Chiharu, who was with them, was unsurprised, having already been able to deduce how the two feel. Although Chiharu found Io cute and attractive, she knew he was already out of her league. She wasn't sure if she liked him per-say, but he was certainly the type of guy she would be delighted to go out with if asked. Despite that, whatever those feelings were, she reasoned they were of no use at this point. Of course, that didn't stop her from finding him very cute and attractive, like many girls.

Eventually, they met up with Io's other friends.

"Io-kun!" Hime waved at him.

"Morning, Hime," Io said walking up to her.

"Huh? Izumi-san?" Hime said with surprise.

'So these are his friends,' Chiharu thought while observing them.

"Yeah, she came to visit us for the weekend," Io said in a happy voice. "With her are some of my other friends."

"I'm Nagi of the Sanzenin family, nice to meet you," Nagi said with enthusiasm.

"My name is Maria, a pleasure to meet you all," Maria said in a calm-like voice.

"I'm Ayasaki Hayate, Ojou-sama's butler," Hayate said in a refined voice.

"And I am Chiharu," Chiharu said in a plain voice.

After the rest of the introductions were out of the way, they all walked together. Of course, Io stuck close to Izumi, which made Sakaki and Mayoi grin. Tsumiki got jealous, but kept herself in control, due to not wanting to offend him.

"Want to hit the arcade?" Sakaki asked Io.

"Again?" Io asked exasperately.

"You bet! I'll beat you this time!" Sakaki declared at him.

"You never give up," Io said with a sweat drop. "How many times have you been beat?"

"Nonsense! I'm gonna win this time!" Sakaki said, fired up.

"No, I'll be the one to win!" Nagi said, getting in the mood with pumped fists, for she was quite a fan of games.

"What did you say!?" Sakaki asked, as he and Nagi eyed each other competitively while Hayate laughed nervously.

"What do you want to do, Izumi?" Io asked gently.

"Win a prize," Izumi simply said.

"...Could you be more specific?" Io asked with a sweat drop.

"Are you going to try winning another prize yourself?" Mayoi asked Hime.

"Eh? Um..." Hime started, remembering all the times she was so bad at operating the crane. "No way!"

"Hime is clumsy," Tsumiki said as if it were nothing.

Izumi suddenly attacked her in a hug, which made her blush.

"Cute!" Izumi yelled out in compliment to her, as she found Tsumiki adorable in person all the more.

"S-stop it!" Tsumiki said in a low, but embarrassed voice.

Finding the scene cute, Hime nosebleed.

"Is she okay!?" Hayate asked in panic.

"Don't worry, she gets like this a lot," Io pointed out. "Anytime she finds something very adorable, she gets nosebleeds. She can for other reasons as well, but I never understand what other reasons cause her to."

"Is that so?" Hayate said in a voice of curiosity.

Mayoi whispered in Io's ear.

"You wish to win Izumi-san a prize and be lovey dov-" Mayoi was silenced by Io giving her a small chop to the shoulder.

It didn't stop Io from blushing, which made Hime nosebleed, and Tsumiki show surprise. Sure he's done it before, but it was always so adorable when he got embarrassed.

"He blushed!?" Nagi said, astonished, as that was something she has not seen before from him.

"Y-you're right!" Maria said, very surprised too.

After that, they went to the arcade. Io and Sakaki played dartz.

"Sakaki's ultimate, swift finisher!" Sakaki yelled out as he threw the first dart, hoping it would hit the center, but it missed. "SHOOOOT!"

Io, intensely concentrating, threw his dart at quick speed, and hit the center. Sakaki was dumbfounded by his incredible accuracy. Io always seemed to be accurate with his aiming. Sakaki paled in depression for looking so pitiful in comparison.

"Do you want to try again?" Io said, knowing he wouldn't accept a quick defeat.

"Of course!" Sakaki said.

"No helping it," Io said, consenting.

Once more, Sakaki's aim was way off, while Io scored yet again another perfect shot in the center.

"Give it up, you suck at this!" Nagi said in a matter of factly voice.

"What was that!?" Sakaki asked in anger. "Then let's see you do better, blonde pigtails midget-"

WACK!

Nagi gave him a comical hit to the head so hard he fell. Furthermore, he had a large bump on his head. Everyone sweat dropped at this scene.

"Want to repeat that last part!?" Nagi asked in annoyance.

"A-are you alright!?" Hime asked Sakaki with worry.

"I-I'm fine!" Sakaki managed to say as smoke came off his bump.

"It's your fault for not watching how you speak to others," Io said.

"So it's my fault!?" Sakaki asked spastically, offended that he got the full blame.

Io then went over to Izumi and Hime, who were trying to win a stuffed animal.

Mayoi watched out of sheer amusment, while Tsumiki kept quiet.

"What are you guys trying to do?" Io asked as he walked up to them.

"I was trying to get Hime a specific prize, but I keep missing it," Izumi said with discourage.

"You don't have to get it," Hime offered.

But Io went ahead and put a coin in, and with some guiding of the crane, he carefully scooped up what they tried to win.

"Here you go," Io said, handing it over to Hime.

"Thank you!" Hime said with utmost excitement.

"Isn't that great?" Izumi asked her in a happy voice, to which she nodded.

"Hehhhh! Io is such a gentleman, right Izumi-san?" Mayoi teased her, which made her blush and Io twitch.

"Eh!?" Izumi yelped out, very flustered by this.

Mayoi watched her with a big smirk on her face. Chiharu on the other hand, who was observing the scene, smiled in amusment.

"Cut it out!" Io said to Mayoi in annoyance.

Meanwhile, Sakaki and Nagi were locked in an intense fighting game.

"Jumpkick! Uppercut!" Nagi yelled as she played using the controller.

"Take this!" Sakaki yelled, mashing button combos himself.

Despite his best efforts, Nagi managed to win.

"Again!?" Sakaki said, having lost their game of dartz as well.

"It's the natural outcome," Nagi said with cockyness. "I spend most my days reading Manga, watching Anime and playing video games."

"Is that something to be proud of?" Maria asked while sweat dropping.

"Teach me your moves!" Sakaki asked. "I want to get better from a true game genius!"

"You have a good eye," Nagi said, happy from the praise. "Alright, I'll teach you Nagi's ultimate moves!"

So they went at it again.

"She's really into this isn't she?" Maria asked Hayate.

"Mmm, but it's good to see her so lively with others instead of just staying in her room," Hayate said as he watched her.

Next, they set up a game of two in a air hockey game. Io teamed up with Izumi, which disappointed Tsumiki, but it was to be expected. The teams were Io and Izumi, vs Hayate and Nagi. The rest acted as the refs.

"Ready, match, start!" Mayoi declared.

"Ha!" Io roared, hitting the puck strongly.

"This is nothing to me!" Hayate said, hitting it. "I used to be the best in reflexes at my old jobs!"

"Take this!" Izumi yelled in a bubbly voice as she hit it towards Nagi.

"Not yet!" Nagi yelled lively.

"Io and Izumi seem to have good teamwork," Mayoi said with a smirk.

"Right," Sakaki said with a smirk as well.

Hime wasn't quite following the meaning of those words, but Maria, Tsumiki and Chiharu caught on to what they were implying.

"Good, keep it up Izumi!" Io told her with enthusiasm.

"Yes!" Izumi said, looking at him and then once more hitting the puck.

"Ultimate Butler, finish!" Hayate declared as he comically powered up and hit the puck with intense force.

However, as it was going to reach Io and Izumi's side, it suddenly made a turn and slammed into Sakaki's face. The others could only sweat drop at this.

"Sorry," Hayate said.

Sakaki on the other hand collapsed.

Part B:

Hinagiku, Miki and Risa finally arrived later next day, and met up with the others.

"Io-kun!" Miki and Risa yelled in excitement as they ran forward and tackled him to the ground.

"You guys!" Io said with a sweat drop, but then smiled. "It's good to see you again too."

"Without you, us three feel like something is missing from our group!" Risa told him.

"Exactly!" Miki said in agreement with her.

Hinagiku always seemed to think Miki and Io were like the unofficial leaders of their little one four group. Miki being the more silly, and Io the more mature leader.

"Alright, give him some room!" Hinagiku said, walking up to them. "Man, you guys are already..."

Sakaki whistled. "Who's she? She's very graceful!" Sakaki noted, making Hinagiku blush from that blunt statement.

'Most guys don't have the guts to say stuff like that to me outright in front of my face!' Hinagiku thought. 'But he did it so easily.'

"She's our Student Council President at Hakou Academy, Hinagiku," Io said, introducing her.

Mayoi went up to her. "Io-san is so popular with girls," Mayoi noted. "He's popular here, and I can only guess he has quite the popularity with girls over there as well."

"What do you mean?" Io asked, oblivious to it.

'What, so he and Hayate-kun are a little alike when it pertains to being dense about girls, even though Hayate is a lot denser than him,' Chiharu thought as she watched them.

Following that, the group went to the festival.

"Sure is crowded," Sakaki commented.

"Well, it's to be expected," Io pointed out.

"So how did you get a cute girl like Hinagiku as your friend?" Sakaki asked in a half tease to Io.

'This guy!' Hinagiku thought as her face began to turn red from embarrassment. 'I, I'm nothing special.'

Miki decided to give Io and Izumi some time alone, in an attempt to get them to come out with their feelings. Grabbing both by the arm, she spoke up and pushed them forward.

"You two go on ahead," Miki said to them.

"Why?" Io questioned, Izumi also giving a similar look.

"W-we have some things we want to do!" Miki said, getting nervous. "So don't mind us and go on ahead!"

"A-alright," Io said and turned to Izumi. "Let's go."

"Mmm," Izumi agreeing.

After leaving, Chiharu walked up to her.

"You did that to give them time alone didn't you?" Chiharu deduced. "What if Io-kun takes advantage of her-"

"What are you talking about?" Miki asked. "You know Io-kun is not a pervert. And he's too kind and caring to take advantage of a girl like that."

"True, he is that way," Chiharu said, seeing her point.

After that, everyone did their own thing.

Chiharu simply got a drink and sat down in a chair while chilling.

"Want a race to see who can gather up the most fish?" Sakaki asked Nagi.

"You're on!" Nagi said, fired up.

"Good answer!" Sakaki declared with eagerness

They gathered two nets and started speed scooping in the mini-pond. Hinagiku stayed with the two, observing Sakaki in particular in interest.

"Why you!" Sakaki yelled in frustration at not being able to get any fish.

"Blast it all!" Nagi yelled in equal frustration due to doing as bad as him.

Neither side in the end could get even one fish. However, both didn't seem upset.

"Not bad," Sakaki admitted. "Your persistence is interesting!"

"Same for you!" Nagi admitted back.

Both smiled, happy to have a rival. Hinagiku, who watched Sakaki, sweat dropped.

'What was he doing that whole time?' Hinagiku thought. 'Were they even trying to get the fish!?'

Still, she couldn't help but smile. Sakaki may be rather energetic like Nagi, but he was a pretty good guy as far as she could see.

Elsewhere, Mayoi, Miki and Risa bought an overkill amount of strawberry sunday.

"Now, let's dig in!" Mayoi stated.

"Yeah!" both Miki and Risa proclaimed with energy.

As they started scarfing it all down, the people around them sweat dropped, which they didn't notice.

Hayate and Maria came across a hammer weight game.

"Ah! This is one of those games where you hit the bottom, and how much force you used, is the amount that will force that little dong to go up," Hayate said.

"Are you going to try it Hayate-kun?" Maria asked him.

"I guess so," Hayate said.

Hayate readied himself, took the hammer and hit the bottom of the device with all his strength. This made the dong reach all the way to the top with no effort.

"Great!" Maria clapped. "Let me give it a try."

Once he handed the hammer over to her, she gave it her best shot. The hammer didn't hit with enough force for the dong to make it to the top.

"Could it be, that you're really fat-"

BANG!

Maria hit him comically with the hammer, and stood like she did nothing while Hayate layed on the ground out cold.

Meanwhile, Tsumiki and Hime played a game involving having to shoot five balls in a hoop to win.

While they did that, Io and Izumi went to a small shop.

"How do I look?" Izumi asked Io, having a small flower on one of her two ponytails to try on.

"Beautiful," Io said with a smile, which caused his heart to pound very quickly.

"T-thank you," Izumi flusteredly blurted out while blushing greatly, and then turned away while smiling.

Back with Tsumiki and Hime, who still were playing.

"Here I go!" said Hime, throwing a ball through the hoop. "I did it!"

Tsumiki throwed one, and it also made it's way through. Afterwards. she looked in the direction Io and Izumi went.

"I wonder what they're doing," Tsumiki said with little emotion, but some sadness in her voice.

"Want to go see?" Hime asked with excitement.

The two headed in their direction.

"The stars are so pretty!" Izumi said in her bubbly voice.

"They are," Io said, looking at her.

When Tsumiki and Hime finally arrived, they saw the two staring up at the stars. Just then, fireworks illuminated the sky.

"Look at that!" said Hime, pointing at a star shape one.

The others came behind Hime and Tsumiki after hearing the fireworks.

"I had a lot of fun today with you, Izumi," Io said, smiling at her, which made her cheeks turn red. "To tell you the truth, it felt painful not being near you, even though we still talk a lot over the phone. So, I'm really happy you visited."

The two gazed into each others eyes as their heart beats speed up.

"How romantic," Mayoi said smirkingly.

Both Io and Izumi jumped and turned behind them, only to see Mayoi and Sakaki grinning ear to ear. Hinagiku, Miki and Risa had amused looks. Hime was blushing from the sight and nosebleed, wheras Chiharu had folded arms and an amused expression.

"You guys..." Io said, for some reason feeling annoyed.

"You two had such a good atmosphere," Sakaki said with a grin.

"W-what are you saying!?" Izumi uttered out in a flustered voice.

This earned laughs from everyone else, besides Io who was embarrassed. Before everyone turned in for the day, Hinagiku looked at Sakaki.

"Are you still feeling tired from the trip?" Miki asked her.

"Huh? N-no!" Hinagiku stuttered while blushing and quickly walked away.

Hinagiku's behavior was odd to Miki. As she glanced where Hinagiku did before, she saw Sakaki walking and chatting with Io and his other friends.

'Could she...?' Miki pondered before leaving. 'Think about that later. Right now I have something else to do.'

Later at night, in their rental Hotel room, Miki walked up to Izumi.

"Izumi," Miki started, with some seriousness to her tone.

A/N: When I think of Sakaki and Nagi ever meeting, I honestly think their interactions would be like this. I know the idea of Hinagiku growing interest in a boy like Sakaki is hard to imagine, but Hinagiku strikes me as the type to be more into a daring boy that would actually compliment her to her face about her beauty without acting all spastic or no emotion (yeah Io said she was pretty once, but it's not like she was facing his direction, and it's not like he had much emotion when he said it). And considering the fact that most guys just mutter around her, and the one Kendo guy is a complete drama queen about it, I could legitimately see Hinagiku growing interest in Sakaki. Sure Io is the charmer on the show when it comes to girls, but I can honestly see Hinagiku being drawn to Sakaki over Io as far as romance is concerned, for these reasons. The whole SakakixHinagiku thing at most will be a small side-thing (like how some shows focus on a main pairing, but then they throw in a side-one that either goes somewhere, or it's left open one-sided and not very focused on).


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Acchi Kocchi or Hayate No Gotoku.

Part A:

The next week rolled on through. But at last, the weekend once again arrived. At the moment, the trio and some others were in a Taxi heading to Io's town. Izumi looked out the window, as she was the one next to it.

Flash back, from one week ago:

"Izumi," Miki started, with seriousness to her tone. "Why haven't you told Io-kun how you really feel?"

"Eh!?" Izumi yelped while blushing.

"Don't deny it, I can tell you like him," Miki pointed out. "From my observation, you two both really like each other, and as close as you and Io-kun are, neither of you will close the gap."

"W-wait a minute! Io-kun doesn't like me," Izumi tried to say, blushing, and flustered while waving her hands in front of her defensively.

"You're wrong," Miki once more pointed out. "You may not be able to see it, but he really likes you. My guess, is that he's afraid of confessing to you, because he doesn't know how you feel about him, hence he doesn't want to put pressure on you. That's just like him."

"Io-kun...likes me?" Izumi slowly asked.

"He does," Miki told her. "Even Hinagiku and Nagi can see how close you two are. And even Io's other friends can tell. That's why I'm saying, you don't have anything to worry about. From what I can see, he loves you. Besides, I liked Io myself."

"Eh!? You liked him!?" Izumi asked with the same surprise that she asked last time.

"But, even so," Miki started, tightening her fists. "His heart is already out of my own reach. That's why it irritates me that you two clearly like each other, but neither one of you is willing to close the distance. I've already accepted I no longer have a shot at him. But if I can say something: don't wait until it's too late, to tell him how you feel."

With those words, Miki left, leaving Izumi to herself.

End of flash back.

"Does Io-kun, really like me?' Izumi thought as her cheeks went red. 'It's just like Miki-chan said, if I d-don't tell him how I feel, I will never know how Io-kun really feels, or it could be too late if I put it off.'

Izumi resolved to herself, to tell Io during these two days. However, she was nervous to even say it. Even so, she wanted to confirm Io's true feelings, to see if he really loves her just like Miki pointed out.

Later on in the next day, Io was at home, bored and playing a game by himself. Just then Tsumiki, Sakaki, Mayoi and Hime knocked and came in his house.

"You guys," Io said, stopping his game. "What do you want?"

"What, we're just bored," Mayoi admitted. "So we figured we should just hang out at Io's home."

"So your lifestyle is to stay over here when you're bored," Io said with a sweat drop.

"Now now," Hime said, stopping any potential argument to come out of this.

"Oh, playing that game!" Sakaki said, getting a controller. "Let's play, I've gotten better!"

"Better, huh," Io commented.

End result. Everyone was in amazement that Sakaki just beat Io at the fighting game.

"Yes, finally!" Sakaki yelled in victory.

"I can't believe it," Mayoi said.

"Yeah," Io said, surprised.

"When did you get so good!?" Hime asked him in astonishment.

"Heh heh, I was taught by Nagi herself!" Sakaki proclaimed. "I'm an apprentice to a true game genius."

"You've definitely improved," Io commented.

"Right?" Sakaki said, proud.

Just then, Tsumiki picked up a controller and beat him in seconds.

"It, would appear you have more improvements to make if you want to stand a chance against Tsumiki," Io pointed out.

"Darn it alllll!" Sakaki yelled as the others sweat dropped.

Afterwards, Mayoi, like she had a tendency to do, played with the fan by having her voice eco againsty the wind. Hime also did it. Tsumiki, at Sakaki's persistance, continued to play with him. Despite losing, he was starting to improve little by little each time. Io assumed this to be Nagi's handi-work teachings.

"Tsumiki, come here," Mayoi called.

"What?" Tsumiki asked.

"Want to draw Io?" Mayoi teased, handing her a pencil.

"Draw...Io," Tsumiki said, letting her imagination go wild. 'Draw...'

Just then, she stopped upon realizing everyone besides Io, had their eyes on her. Hime nosebleed, while Tsumiki attacked Mayoi in heavy embarrassment.

Io himself was sitting up reading a book. Just then, the door knocked, which Io got. There at the door were, Izumi, Risa, Miki, Hinagiku, Hayate, Nagi, Maria, Chiharu, Sakuya and Isumi.

"Huh? Are those two some of your other friends too?" Mayoi asked, looking at Sakuya and Isumi.

"Yes," Io said, motioning his hand at them. "This is Sakuya, and the other is Isumi."

Once their introductions were done with, Io popped a question.

"Wouldn't it have been easier and a lot faster if you all just came by plane?" Io asked them.

"True, that would be the case, but the plane is undergoing some maintenance," Maria clarified.

"Anyway, it's time!" Sakaki said with hype, pointing at Io's game console.

Nagi, in eagerness, glowed comically in a cocky fasion, as did Sakaki. The others sweat dropped at their behavior. After two rounds, Sakaki and Nagi sweated, and panted in exhaustion.

"They were so concentrated that it mentally tired them out," Maria said.

"If only they could put this much effort in other things," Hinagiku noted.

"You're right," Hayate said in full agreement, though he was mainly talking about Nagi.

After Nagi and Sakaki recovered, they all decided to head out, as it would be boring to sit around all day. But on their way...

"Where's Isumi?" Io asked Sakuya, only for him and Sakuya to sweat drop.

"...Don't tell me!" they both said at the same time in annoyance.

"What?" Hime asked.

"That Isumi, she has terrible sense of direction," Sakuya explained. "Unless someone guides her, she's more than likely to get lost."

"Not too bright is she," Sakaki noted.

"Like you're one to talk," Io said with a sweat drop.

"The rest of you go on ahead, I'll find her," Sakuya, only to look surprised when she saw Isumi show up right next to them. "...Where did you go off to?"

"Observing the newest advanced portable technology known as the Andr**d," Isumi clarified in intense interest.

The others sweat dropped. "This isn't the future!' Hayate said in annoyance. "Things like that don't come out in our current days!"

"Oh!" Isumi said in realization.

"Just how much of society did her parents teach her?" Sakuya questioned.

Io sighed and grabbed Isumi's hand. "Just stay with us and don't get lost," Io said softly as he gently pulled her along.

"Y-yes!" Isumi said in a gentle but flustered voice.

With the two out of earshot, Miki spoke to Izumi.

"Something bothering you?" Miki teased Izumi, who looked saddened by the sight.

"Everything is fine!" Izumi poorly proclaimed while sweating nervously.

"'Why is Io-kun holding Isumi's hand' is what you want to know, right?" Risa teased her with a grin.

"T-that's-" Izumi flusteredly uttered out. "So what if, if I do!"

Besides Io and Isumi, who just heard the yell, the others froze in surprise that she outbursted in admitting it in front of them all like that. Izumi then went red to the point she steamed and hid her face with her hands.

"What happened?" Io asked, walking over to Izumi.

Everyone jolted to cover for her.

"N-nothing!" Hinagiku yelled spastically while waving her hands about.

"That's right, she was just telling us an embarrassing moment of her past!" Risa tried to come up with at the last second.

"Embarrassing moment, huh," said Io, putting a hand to his chin in thought. "I remember taking a bag to the trash can, and when I opened it, Tsumiki ran to me and then fell inside of it due to tripping."

"Nyaa!" Tsumiki yelped in embarrassment.

"Ahahaha, seriously!?" Sakuya said, laughing about it. "I can't believe it!"

Now that made two people steaming from embarrassment.

'Io-kun is unexpectedly brutal!' Chiharu and Maria thought with nervous smiles.

Just then, everybody gained a look of shock as Isumi went and kissed Io on the cheek.

"What are you-"" Io started before Isumi answered him.

"I love you," Isumi proclaimed with not a care in the world. "I wanted to tell you that for some time. Now, I have to use the bathroom."

Everyone stood speechless at what just happened. Izumi looked like she was going to faint, but Miki pointed out in a whisper that Io himself had yet to say that he liked Isumi back.

"H-hey, what are you going to do about this!?" Nagi asked in worry, walking up to him.

"About this?" Io asked her.

"Isn't there someone else you like!?" Nagi confronted the oblivious Io. "Are you fine with tossing that away just to avoid hurting someone else that likes you!?"

"Ojou-sama," Hayate muttered with surprise.

"Of course there's someone I like," Io flatly told her, while Miki gave Izumi a "See, I told you so" look which made Izumi blush. "And I've no intentions of returning Isumi's feelings for that reason."

"Then," Maria started.

"I'm turning her down when she comes back," Io said bluntly. "I'm sure Isumi would want the honest answer as well."

Sakuya smiled. 'He really is a good guy,' Sakuya thought as she stared at him.

When Isumi came back, Io gave her his answer, but Isumi was fine with it.

"Quick and to the point," Chiharu noted.

"That's one of his many good points," Miki said as she and Risa blushed.

Part B:

At the moment, they were walking through the town later in the day.

"Don't you have Student Council duties on the weekends?" Sakaki asked Hinagiku.

"Mmm, but there's weekends where I don't have anything going on," Hinagiku said.

"Hmm, must be a pain dealing with paperwork and the like," Sakaki mused.

"True," Hinagiku said, fully agreeing with that.

"Well well, aren't you two getting along," Mayoi teased them.

"Y-you!" Hinagiku yelled, getting flustered. "What are you trying to say!?"

"This is unexpected," Miki said in an amused voice. 'It seems I was right.'

"Could it be our Student Council President-" Risa started with amusement until Hinagiku cut her off.

"Shut up!" Hinagiku said in a flustered voice while blushing.

Sakaki had a question mark, wondering what was with her.

"Want to scare someone?" Mayoi asked, in a mischievous mood.

"Eh!?" Hime said in spasticness, already having seen the disaster that happened before when they tried this.

"Don't," Tsumiki told Mayoi with little emotion.

Sakaki, Miki and Risa were full-on board with that, so Mayoi put on a bear costume, while the other three put on Raptor outfits.

"Now, who's going to be our target, ah!" Mayoi said, pointing to Kikue.

"That's our teacher you know," Io said. "If she realizes it is you-"

"Don't worry, no way she'll find out," Mayoi assured.

"But-" Izumi started, but was cut off.

"Don't be such a worry-wort," Miki said, giving off the same feel as Mayoi.

There was just no stopping them. The others could only watch as they attempted to scare Kikue.

"Roarrrrr!" Sakaki, Miki and Risa yelled.

"Raaaaaa!" Mayoi yelled.

As soon as Kikue turned to the source...

"Yaaaaa!" Kikue yelled in fright and started running as fast as her legs would carry her. "Get away, get away!"

"...I feel sorry for her," Io commented as he watched the four chase her.

"But, they seem to be having fun with this," Izumi said.

"Is that a good thing though?" Hinagiku wondered with a sweat drop.

"...Um, Io-kun," Izumi quietly said, getting the others attention.

"What is it, Izumi?" Io asked.

"Well, could we go somewhere to talk alone?" she asked.

"Alright," Io said. "You guys stay here."

"Roger!" Hime said, putting a hand to her head in a loyal fashion, and then put a hand to Tsumiki's head. "Don't worry, they'll be back."

'Strange...what could she want to say in private to him?' Hinagiku thought.

Chiharu had a good idea of it. 'Is she really going to...' Chiharu thought.

Leaving Hime and the others behind, they went somewhere where they could be alone. The two now stood near a big lake of water.

"So, what is it you want to talk about?" Io asked her with curiosity.

"I...," Izumi started, beginning to shake while averting his gaze, but she knew nothing could be certain until she said it. She braced herself, holding both her hands together while looking down, and said it in a raised panic voice while blushing. "I, I love you, Io-kun!"

Io widened his eyes as a tremendous amount of stress now left his body. For the longest time, he had this high level of stress in him due to not knowing how she felt about him. Plus, it ached him trying to keep his feelings hidden.

"That's why, that's why!" Izumi tried to say, only to be hugged by Io. "Io-kun?"

"I love you too," Io said, in the sincerest voice, to Izumi's surprise. "Thank you, Izumi."

It was just like Miki said, Io indeed felt the same about her. And here she had been worried over nothing. Overcome with happiness, Izumi hugged him back as the wind blew their hair. When they finally let go, Io was the first to speak.

"Will you go out with me, Izumi?" Io asked in a gentle voice, holding her hands with his own.

"Of course," Izumi said in a gentle voice while smiling.

All of the others had saw it all from the bushes. Hime told Sakaki, Mayoi, Risa and Miki, that Izumi wanted to speak to Io in private, which lead to everyone going in the direction they left.

"About time," Miki said while smiling. 'Congragulations, Izumi.'

'I'm in for a tough time trying to cheer up Tsumiki after this one,' Mayoi thought nervously, as she looked at the depressing aura Tsumiki emited.

Hime, who saw it all, fainted quietly in a nosebleed.

Io and Izumi walked back, and as they did they were greeted by everyone.

"That was quite the scene you two had back there," Sakaki said, grinning and folding his arms.

"You were spying!?" both Io and Izumi asked in shock.

"But, the two of you were so lovey-dovey, we couldn't leave," Mayoi said, dancing about in excitement like Sakaki was now doing.

"Right, how romantic," Risa said teasingly.

Izumi blushed at the fact they were spying.

"Well, that's how it is," Io said.

"It's kind of embarrassing that they know," said Izumi, fidgeting with her hands.

"What are you talking about? It's about time you two admitted to each other how you felt," Miki said, happy for her.

"Really," Hinagiku said in agreement with folded arms and a happy expression.

"C-c-c-congragulations, you two!" Tsumiki managed to say.

'At least she's trying to put on a good front,' Mayoi thought.

"Io-kun has a girlfriend!" Hime said, very happy about this, and clasping her hands.

'That Ayasaki, he could learn from Io-kun,' Chiharu thought as she smiled at Io and Izumi, fully aware of the fact a number of girls like Hayate despite how badly dense he is about it.

When the time came, Io and Izumi said their goodbyes, and Izumi and the rest headed back home. Later at night, Izumi walked in her father's room, where she saw a dispute.

"Give me what they call the great Rubik's Cube!" Izumi's brother demanded. "I must try it to see if I can truly overcome such a complicated device!"

"No, you're not smart enough to use something like that!" their father said, before noticing his daughter. "Ah, Izumi, what can I do for you?"

"The next time I go on a trip, I want you to meet my boyfriend," Izumi happily proclaimed without a care.

"...WHAAAAAAAAT!?" both her brother and father yelled out at the same time. "Boyfriend!?"

That level of yelling shook the house.

A/N: Isumi is really random about this stuff. When she did confess to Hayate in the show, she did it in such an out of the blue way.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Acchi Kocchi or Hayate No Gotoku.

Part A:

'Impossible, that's impossible!' her father thought in a craze. 'My daughter has a boyfriend!? Could it be that Hayate? I already suspected she had her eyes on him...no it couldn't be. She said trip, so that means it can't be him. But then, who is it!?'

"None of that matters! Gather the military, organize a strike!" her father yelled in a fit of rage.

"Wait, dad!" Izumi yelled at him in half plead. "He's not like that!"

Her father could say nothing but clench his fists. Whenever Izumi protested, he just couldn't not believe her or stay angry. He groaned in defeat.

"Why didn't you tell us this any sooner?" her brother eyed her.

"Well, we only finally admitted our feelings to each other earlier today," Izumi told him, all bubbly without a care.

"Is that so?" he said out loud.

"Fine, we go next week!" her father said, defeated and agreeing to her request. "Besides, I want to see this boy for myself! Kotetsu, I leave you in charge of the house when that time comes."

"But I'm Izumi's butler!" he pointed out in protest.

"I'll be there, so there's no need for you to come as well," their father told him. "In any case, look after the house."

"Yeah yeah," Kotetsu said, groaning.

At some point next week, the subject of Io and Izumi came up, and Io told the rest of his friends at school who hadn't known that he had a girlfriend, which surprised them. The day after Izumi and the others went back last week, Tsumiki stayed at home, warranting Io's concern. But Mayoi told him that she was sick and didn't want any visitors, which he respected. However, this was just a fib Mayoi told, for she knew that Tsumiki wanted to be alone for the day. After all, Io and Izumi confessed their feelings and are a couple now. The next day, Tsumiki for the most part was recovered. It still pained her to a degree, but she accepted and wanted to do her very best to support them.

When Saturday came, Io and his friends got on a plane this time and prepared to leave to Hakou's location. This was the first time that his friends were going to be there. Earlier in the week, he had called Izumi himself, and wanted to go there with his friends this time. Izumi informed her father of the change, which he was fine with. When they arrived, the trio was already waiting.

Izumi was eager to have Io meet her father, so he went with her to her house. The others also going as well. Once they arrived, Izumi opened the door and they walked in.

"Dad! I'm back!" Izumi called out.

"Oh, welcome back, Izumi!" her father said, entering the room, and then froze. 'Th-this is! This boy, could it be this is who she-'

"These are my new friends," Izumi introduced them. "And this is my boyfriend, Io-kun."

Io was actually a bit nervous. Her father looked really intimidating, but he knew it was proper to introduce himself.

"Nice to meet you," he said calm, but politely while lowering his upper body to show respect.

Izumi's father kept quiet. He had hoped that this boy would turn out to be some pervert so he could easily just kick him out and convince Izumi he was up to no good. But he seemed very polite.

"N-nice to meet you!" he got out, unable to find fault on him.

"What's that, are you thinking that Io did anything weird to Izumi?" Mayoi only teased.

'This is bad!' Risa and Miki thought in fright.

"...YOU PUUUUUUNK!" Izumi's father flew into a rage. "How dare you take advantage of my daughter!"

Io and his friends flinched. He was terrifying. Izumi was too flustered by the suggestion to stop her father.

"Yes, 'I can't wait to be alone with her' he said," Sakaki added on in a tease.

"Not helping!" Io panicked out.

In seconds, Izumi's father took out a sword.

"Say your prayers, Io!" he roared as everybody freaked out while watching him charge the sword at Io. "Die in peace!"

BANG!

Tsumiki, after getting in front of Io to defend him, kicked Izumi's father so comically hard he flew back.

"Calm down, Mayoi and Sakaki have a tendency to lie, so don't believe their words at face-value," Tsumiki told him. "Also, Io is a very r-responsible person!"

"Y-yes sir!" he said, getting up and putting the sword away. "Sorry for the behavior, I'll prepare for you all some tea."

Io wiped his head as her father left. "I never would have imagined he would be that scary," Io commented in relief.

"He overeacts some times," Izumi stated.

"Like a bull!" Sakaki commented.

"No, like a rampaging Rhino!" Mayoi said as everyone sweat dropped.

"And who were the two that fibbed that all up!?" Io asked them with some annoyance to his voice.

Once Izumi's father made tea for everyone, he properly set each one next to each person.

"So what's Hakou Academy like?" Hime asked in curiosity.

"We have our daily dose of lessons, and occasional events," Miki said.

"But we three often enough just slack off," Risa said proudly, with Miki on that train of thought as well.

"You've no shame do you?" Io asked with a sweat drop, the others sweat dropping at them too.

"Anyway, does Izumi-san and Io-kun have anything planned for the weekend?" Hime asked in anticipation.

Izumi's father paled, as he twitchly turned his head towards them.

"Maybe we'll just go sightseeing or something," Io said, earning a sense of relief from her father.

"We could even go on the ferris wheel together!" Izumi happily proclaimed in her bubbly voice, bringing back her father's stress. "W-what!?"

Izumi blushed as she saw Sakaki, Mayoi, Risa and Miki grinning at her. Izumi's father had a look of shock.

After they left and said goodbye, Sakaki wanted to know where Nagi lives. He wanted her to train him more, seeing as it was helping him get better. Plus he was curious to her taste in games as a whole. After they arrived and had their greetings, Sakaki eagerly battled it out with Nagi in a fighting game. He did better than before, but Nagi still won. Still, Sakaki was willing to acknowledge Nagi as his rival, and Nagi in turn admired his guts and would challange him as many times as he liked. Mayoi, Risa and Miki tried to scare Maria, which backfired.

At the moment, Tsumiki and Hime explored.

"So many rooms," Hime said in wonderment.

"It is a mansion after all," Tsumiki commented with no emotion.

Tama on the other hand was walking down the hall.

"This time my plan is full proof-ga!" Tama stopped, believing Tsumiki to be a tiger due to her feline-shaped ears. "My luck's changing!"

Tama at once pounced on Tsumiki. Hime was afraid to move at risk of being attacked.

"W-what's a tiger doing free like this!?" Hime spastically asked.

"Nyaa!" Tsumiki panicked, unable to get free as the tiger licked her cheeks with heart shaped eyes.

"Stupid tiger!" Hayate's voice rang out.

BANG!

Hayate sent Tama flying against the wall with a swift hard kick.

'Why!?' Tama thought, wondering what he did wrong.

"Are you alright!?" Io asked with worry as he and Izumi ran to Tsumiki to help her up.

"I, I think so!" Tsumiki said, still a bit afraid of what just happened.

"That's Tama," Hayate said, looking at the tiger.

"Cage that tiger!" Hime yelled out while pointing at the animal.

"Believe me, I would if I had it my way," Hayate said, irritated by Nagi and Maria's stupidity on this. "Ojou-sama, Maria-san and Klaus all think of it as a cat."

"Geez," Io said with a sweat drop.

"That's because it is, Ayasaki Hayate!" Klaus said, showing up. "When will you ever get it in your head!?"

"There's no hope for you," Io said with a sweat drop. "Better yet, who are you?"

"I am Klaus, the one in charge here!" he said with proudness.

"Strange, I haven't seen you once in the many times I've been here," Io commented.

"You were here many times!?" Klaus asked in shock. "Darn it, why do the writers of this show keep me hidden for so long!?"

Everyone sweat dropped at his tantrum.

"Anyway, it's nice to finally meet you," Io said with politeness to his voice.

*Cough* "By any chance, are you the one that Ojou-sama said helped improve her Manga long ago?" Klaus asked him after composing himself.

"I am," Io answered him.

"...I'm grateful!" Klaus yelled as tears came down his face, and shook Io's hands rapidly. "Because of you, Ojou-sama has had true sucess selling her Manga! So many times she failed, but now she's finally doing so well!"

"I see, that's good," Io said, happy for her.

"Oh, I see you've met Klaus," Nagi said, as she and Sakaki took a break and walked up to them.

"Ojou-sama, make this boy a butler!" Klaus said, pointing at Io. "He'd make a great one."

"He's right," Izumi said in agreement.

"I never said I was going to," Io pointed out with a sweat drop.

"I think it would suite you," Sakaki said with a grin. "You're already so popular with girls, being a butler would get you twice as many girls!"

"I already have a girlfriend you know," Io pointed out. "Why would I ever cheat on her?"

"But, it shocked me when I witnessed you two confess a week ago," Hayate said. "I had no idea you and Segawa-san even liked each other."

'That's not a surprise coming from you,' Io thought, knowing Hayate's dense nature on this type of thing.

Just then, Mayoi, Miki and Risa came running.

"Out of the way!" Mayoi yelled spastically in fright with Miki and Risa right next to her as they ran full speed past everyone.

"Ga!" both Nagi and Klaus yelped at seeing a very angry Maria with a broom running after them.

"Get back here now!" Maria yelled as she ran after them just as fast. "You three are going to pay for that prized vase!"

"Klaus, w-we better not follow," Nagi said, shaking.

"A-agreed!" Klaus said, shaking in fear: they both greatly feared Maria's anger.

Part B:

After taking a beating from Maria, the three were stuck in the room cleaning up the mess, while Maria watched.

Later, they all had a picnic. Nagi had called Sakuya, who in turn called Isumi over. Miki also called Hinagiku and invited her over. Before long, they all came over and ate.

"Don't you have something you want to give Sakaki-kun?" Miki asked, urging Hinagiku.

"Geez!" Hinagiku said walking up to him while blushing. "H-here!"

"This is..." Sakaki said, taking from her what looked like some new controller. "You bought this for me?"

"I-couldn't help it!" Hinagiku said, averting his gaze. "You want to use a better controller, right?"

"Thank you!" Sakaki said with excitement. "Only the most gorgeous of girls could get something like this for me!"

Hinagiku turned redder as her heart rate sped up rapidly.

"By the way, there is something I always wanted to ask you," Sakaki said to her.

"What's that?" Hinagiku asked.

"Hmm...why are you so flat-chested-"

WACK!

Hinagiku hit him comically in the head, leaving a huge steaming bump there.

"I am not!" Hinagiku said in anger. 'Man, why am I drawn to guys like this!?'

'Actually, you are, so he's not wrong,' Miki thought as she sweat dropped.

"Is the food good?" Io asked Izumi, who sat next to him.

"Very!" Izumi proclaimed as she kept eating.

"I'm already getting full," Hime said as she ate.

"Hey Tsumiki, are you eating the desert?" Mayoi asked.

Tsumiki hissed and put her hands over it in defense.

"I take it as a yes," Mayoi said with a sweat drop.

"Seconds!" Sakaki said, having recovered quickly and ate all his food.

"But of course," Maria said, giving him more.

"Look at this!" Mayoi said, taking out her food launcher, and pushing the button, it fired...too fast! "Wait!"

Nagi got totally hit with meatballs, while everybody sweat dropped. "...Mayoiiiii!" Nagi yelled furiously and dive bombed her.

"Ahahaha!" Sakuya laughed out loud, very entertained by the scene. "Mayoi's very interesting!"

"True," Isumi said, amused by the scene as well. "Things will never be boring with people like these."

Io smiled. It was nice to all be gathered together like this and eating together.

"You guys look like you're having fun," came Chiharu's voice, and with her was Aika.

"Chiharu-san!" Hime said, glad to see her.

"I didn't expect to see you guys here," Chiharu said, walking over to Hime. "I came over to see if Nagi could give back something I lent her."

"You want to join?" Hime asked her, to which she smiled.

"Looks like this will be far from a boring day after all," Chiharu said, grabbing some food and sitting next to her.

Aika on the other hand approached Io and Izumi.

"It seems you've both told each other how you feel, right?" Aika asked with happiness to her voice.

"That's right," Io said. "But how did you know?"

"What, the atmosphere you two give tells me the two of you are finally a couple," Aika said, and then looked at Izumi. "Isn't that great, Izumi-san?"

"Yeah!" Izumi admitted with a happy face.

Chiharu smiled at her, only to turn her attention to Mayoi.

"Jaaaa! Io service!" a recovered Mayoi yelled, lifting up his shirt for the other girls.

Aside from Aika, the other girls nosebleed with red faces, and made flustered sounds.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Chiharu yelled at Mayoi with losing composure.

"I thought you girls could use some service!" Mayoi said as if it were no big deal, with a teasing look on her face.

"Like heck we did!" They all yelled at her.

"Ojou-sama?" Hayate asked, watching her wipe blood off her nose. "Were you turned on by-"

"D-don't be an idiot!" Nagi protested as some more blood came out of her nose, forcing her to turn so Hayate couldn't see her face.

The others then looked at Izumi, Tsumiki and Hime, who all had fainted face first on the table with steam coming out of their head. Miki and Risa also ended up the same as those three.

"You went too far," Sakuya said to Mayoi with a sweat drop.

Io glared at Mayoi in annoyance, but he then focused back on Izumi and helped her sit up. In no time she was recovered with no blood from her nose. Hime and Tsumiki also recovered quickly like normal, as did Miki and Risa.

Some time later, Io and Izumi went on a ferris wheel by themselves: the others simply did their own things and hanged out with each other.

"Beautiful!" Izumi proclaimed, staring into the distance.

"It is," Io said. "But, you're more beautiful than that."

"Y-you think so!?" Izumi said, blushing and looking down while smiling.

Io took hold of one of her hands. "When we first met, I just thought of you like the other two," Io admitted, "But then we started spending time together, and my feelings started to grow. I didn't know why I started to feel all weird around you. I was even afraid. However, Aika helped me to figure it out. I truly had fallin in love with you."

Izumi continued to smile.

"I will say it again, I love you!" Io proclamed. "And that's why I want to always be with you!"

"Io-kun," Izumi said, touched and hugged him. "So do I. I was afraid of how you would respond if I confessed. But, Miki-san helped me to overcome my worries and to confess to you."

They were both people who needed that little push. That was something Io noted.

"I guess we were both in need of a push with our feelings," Io said.

"Mmm," Izumi said as she stayed in his arms.

A few seconds passed before Io spoke up.

"Hey, let's continue forward together," Io said gently, feeling like he had to say it even though he didn't have to.

"Yeah," Izumi said quietly while smiling as the wind blew.

The time eventually came, and Io and his other friends said their goodbyes. As they flew back to their home place, Izumi went in her father's room.

"Dad," Izumi started.

A day later, Io woke up, got ready and went to school. On his way, like usual he walked with Tsumiki, Sakaki, Mayoi and Hime. When they got to school and took their seats, Sakaki seperated due to being in another class. Kikue then spoke.

"Good news everyone! We have a new transfer student! Come on in!" Kikue welcomed happily.

As the girl walked in, Io was shocked, as were Hime and Tsumiki.

"Izumi!" the three yelled out.

"You know her?" Kikue asked in curiosity.

The three ran up to Izumi. "What are you doing here?" Io asked her.

"I talked to my father and friends about this, and they were okay with it in the end," Izumi said in her bubbly voice.

"I see," Io said, understanding.

"That's great!" Hime said, happy she was going to go to school with them now.

"Agreed!" said Tsumiki, showing some emotion.

Izumi looked at Io and smiled with her eyes closed. Io in turn smiled back.

Although Izumi's father was against the idea, he agreed to allow it at Izumi's plead. However, he was going to move over there personally so that he could keep an eye on them, in order to ensure that they don't start to rush anything. Although he was willing to admit that this Io boy was nothing like he thought, and the fact that Io was trying to take things slow just like Izumi made him feel all the more at ease, he still wanted to keep watch on them no less. Kotetsu was against it, mainly cause he hadn't met Io due to being out somewhere when he visited the house, but he let the matter drop when their father pointed out he was going to keep his eye on them.

After school was over, Sakaki met up with Io, Mayoi, Tsumiki, Hime and Izumi.

"Alright! Let's have a race to the Hotch Potch cafe!" Mayoi declared dramatically.

"Yes!" everybody yelled with excitement with their hand in the air.

Everyone ran blissfully, having fun. Sakaki tripped at one point and hit a poll, but was helped up by the others. Once they arrived, everybody had some tea and chatted away.

Elsewhere, Chiharu and Aika looked at the skys. Nagi was busy working on a new chapter of her Manga, which now had success. Hayate was running from Maria due to something he carelessly said. Hinagiku thought about Sakaki, and blushed while yelling at Risa and Miki's teasing. Isumi was lost somewhere as Sakuya sighed and helped her, except they were both lost this time around.

Later with Io and his other friends.

They were at the park, and the sun was setting in the distance. Izumi's father sat on a bench with a sword in his hand while keeping his eye on Io and Izumi, who were holding hands watching the sunset. The others were near them and watching the sunset as well.

Io looked at Izumi, and smiled, as did she. 'This is just the beginning...of our future together.' Io thought.

Both then stared into the distance as some birds flew towards the sun.

THE END.


End file.
